


From Mad City to Paradise

by myjiaer



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Homophobia, Hurt/Comfort, I Will Go Down With This Ship, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Internalized Homophobia, Jaehyun is kind of a dick in the middle, M/M, Mentions of a Troubled Childhood, Mutual Pining, Nomin if you squint, TaeKook if you squint, This is a kids zone only so NO smut, Tooth Rotting Fluff, chensung if you squint, establised yuwin, established johnten, idk how to tag, jaeyong are a mess, markhyuck if you squint, platonic taeten and yutae, renyang if you squint REALLY hard, this is my first fic so please bear with me
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-18
Updated: 2019-07-20
Packaged: 2019-09-22 08:24:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 49,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17056286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myjiaer/pseuds/myjiaer
Summary: Lee Taeyong has a kink.... an accent kink. He’s attracted to people who have a non-korean english accent. But unfortunately for him, the only people he knows with such an accent are his best friend Ten and his boyfriend Johnny. Taeyong is convinced that he is never going to find a boyfriend and he will have to spend the rest of his life alone, when Jung Jaehyun enters his life and turns it upside down





	1. Chapter 1

It was 10:00am. With a Venti Iced Latte in one hand, and Adam Smith’s “The Wealth of Nations” in the other, Taeyong made his way towards one of the the tables which was already occupied by a small boy with a beautiful smile. As Taeyong sat down, the boy looked up from his phone and smiled. Taeyong smiled back and asked “How’s class going Jaemin??”

“Its all good hyung!! Being a music major is hard but I’m happy I’m doing something I love!!” Jaemim gave one of his blinding smiles.

Taeyong just smiled back at him and ruffled his hair. “My son is growing up. I’m so proud of you baby!” 

“Jaemin fake gagged. He hated how much Taeyong babied him but secretly, he loved being babied by his favourite hyung.”

“Anyway Jaemin I gotta leave.. I’ll see you after class” Taeyong bade goodbye to Jaemin and went on his way, but not before giving him a long lecture about his choice of drink (A venti ice americano, extra shots of expresso) Jaemin liked it nice and bitter and he didn’t know why everyone always attacked him for it. Can’t a child just drink what he wants??

Taeyong rushed out of the Starbucks outlet opposite his university and rushed into the campus. He found his best friend Ten waiting for him, along with his boyfriend Johnny. 

“Good Morning Taeyong where have you been??” Ten asked his best friend”

“I just went to get a cup of coffee and bumped into Jaemin and then we got to talking... i’m not too late right?” His voice sounded a little apologetic. 

“Actually you’re not late at all, but you know how much Ten loves to be overdramatic, don’t you?” Johnny quipped, as he threaded his fingers through Ten’s soft grey hair. 

“Oh shut up, if I don’t keep him grounded then who will??” Ten retorted back, a little offended. 

“Oh babe don’t get offended I was just messing, of course Taeyong needs someone to keep him grounded or he’d probably be on the streets chasing guys with accents all day long!” Now it was Taeyong’s turn to get offended. With one swift move he caught Johnny’s left year in between his fingers and twisted it around, making Johnny whimper. As Taeyong and Johnny continued wrestling, Ten just stood by, amused at their antics. 

“Next time you say something like that, I’m gonna throw you out of a window, you beanpole!”

“Ah ah ah okay okay I’m sorry just please leave my ears”

Taeyong left Johnny, and as he withered and whimpered, Ten came close to him and kissed him on the ear. 

“That should ease the pain” Ten said, flashing him a genuine smile. 

“Yall are so gross god yall make me feel more single than I already am”

“Maybe if you weren’t so particular about their accents and just concentrated on them, maybe you’d have a boyfriend by now Taeyong” Ten said. 

“Oh please Ten.... I’m gonna get my man someday... you wait and watch....” and saying that, all three of them bade goodbye to each other and went their separate ways. Taeyong was an economics major, Ten was majoring in dance and Johnny in art. They were three completely different people with completely different lifestyles… Taeyong’s father was a businessman in Seoul, Johnny had a family business back in Chicago and Ten’s father was a real estate agent in Thailand. And yet destiny had put them together and got them this close. This same destiny, Taeyong believed, would one day find him a boyfriend who was perfect for him.....


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is just introducing other characters in the story... the main plot starts from chapter three *wiggle wiggle*

Taeyong had just two class that day... Economic Theory and International Economics but Ten and Johnny had more. He got over an hour before they did so he just decided to go around campus, see if he could find any other friends of his. As he was walking around saying hi to a few people here and there, he saw his friends Yuta and Sicheng sitting under a tree inside the campus, watching something on the former’s phone, probably Anime. They were both psychology majors and had been dating for over three years now. The entire campus envied them, including those who weren’t in their department. Taeyong was very close to them, and although he hated to interrupt their moment, he went towards them and sitting down beside Sicheng, put an arm around his shoulder. 

When they noticed him, Yuta immediately put his phone back in his pocket and gave him a high 5. Winwin hugged him. 

“Whats up Taeyong, you done early today??” Yuta asked him. 

“Yeah I had just 2 classes today, I’m waiting for Ten and Johnny. They’ll be done in another 40 minutes. Whats up with the both of you??”

“We’re done for the day. Winwin and I both forgot our room keys today. Taeil hyung has them but he is an Art major just like Johnny so we’re waiting for him.”

Taeyong started giggling. “Maybe if you both weren’t so lost in each other all the time, atleast one of you would remember to take the keys!”

Sicheng seemed to get a little shy but Yuta wasn’t having any of it. He just smiled, took Sicheng’s hand and intertwined their fingers. Then he kissed the back of his hand and said “I have a beautiful boyfriend... why shouldn’t I stare?? Its not a crime to stare at the love of your life is it??”

Sicheng turned red and his words and hid behind Yuta’s back. Over three years and Yuta still had that power over him. 

Taeyong fake gagged. “You guys have got to stop doing that okay Ten and Johnny are enough for me!!”

At this, Yuta started laughing. Then patting him on the back, Yuta said “Taeyong, you are an amazing guy. You’re at the top of your class, you’re hot, and you make guys and girls swoon just by smiling at them. You would be a catch for every single person at university.... why don’t you just drop your whole *english accent* drama and just get yourself a good guy??”

Taeyong sighed. He’d been over this again and again with his friends but he didnt realise why they never understood. 

“Guys... its a psychological thing okay... I just cannot fall for any random guy. He has to be perfect. He’s gotta have a check in majority of my boxes and only then can i think of us together. Lets forget about my accent attraction for a second. You guys know that I’m not some *fling* guy. I am looking for something serious and i’m just not going to go sleep with the next hot guy i see. I don’t want flings.... I want a relationship. So even if I lower my expectations, I want someone who takes this as seriously as I do because relationships are not something I take as a joke!!”

“Firstly hyung...” Sicheng began, thank you for teaching two psychology majors about psychology. And secondly, how do you know that none of these people are looking for an actual relationship?? I mean yeah I understand that most of the boys here look like they just want sex, but amongst them there might be someone who wants a relationship just like you do!!”

“Taeyong look at that guy” Yuta pointed to his left. Taeyong turned back and saw a Raven haired boy in ripped jeans and a black leather jacket. His hair was pushed back, and you could see his Calvin Klein waistbands from below his t-shirt. Overall he looked just like the regular bad boy who would sleep with you and forget about you next morning. 

“Isn’t that Jeon Jeongguk?” Taeyong asked. 

“Yep its him!!” Yuta replied. “Jeon Jeongguk the hottest and most thirsted after guy in this university. He looks like a total fuckboy right?? But do you know he’s been in a relationship for almost four years now?? He may look like he’s gonna pin you to the wall the second he gets a chance, but in reality he’s very committed to his boyfriend. Looks can be deceiving, hyung!!”

“Yeah yeah I get it”. Taeyong sure as hell knew better than to start an argument about human psychology with two psychology majors. “Wait if  
Jeongguk’s classes are over, it means Ten’s classes are over too!! Whats taking him so long??”

“He’s probably gonna come out with Johnny, holding hands, whispering into each other’s years like the couple they are” Yuta shrugged. 

“And you’re the one to talk? Yall ever see yourselves in the mirror?? The clingiest couple in the world would probably be ashamed if they ever came face to face with the both of you!!”

“I’m going to ignore Taeyong’s remarks. Anyway Johnny reminds me, isn’t Jeongguk’s boyfriend also an art major??”

“Kim Taehyung yep!! He and Johnny are partners for the semester project... Ten was telling me last week. They’ve been talking a lot recently and Tae seems like a very sweet guy. We may have two new additions to our group very soon guys” Taeyong said. 

“Jeongguk and Taehyung in our group?? Didnt we have enough with one Tae?? Do we really need another one??” Yuta quipped. 

Taeyong smacked the back of his head. “Shut up you headass or I’m gonna break your nose”. 

Yuta put his arm up to reply but before he could say anything they were distracted by Ten’s voice calling out to the three of them. 

Taeyong tuned around to see his tiny friend frantically waving his arms towards them and motioning them to come here. They all went towards him. 

“Hey Ten I thought you were coming with Johnny?? Your class ended like 15 minutes back right??” 

“Yeah it did. I was waiting for him but then I got bored and I saw him talking to Taehyung at the end of class, so i figured that I’ll just wait with you guys instead. The both of them are discussing about the semester project so it will probably take some time. 

About fifteen more minutes passed. The four of them were just making small talk, discussing about their plans for the week when Johnny and Taehyung came out. Both Ten and Jeongguk gave the most blinding smiles towards their boyfriends and in the next moment Jeongguk had wrapped Taehyung around himself and was giving him the most bone crushing hug ever. It was surprising to see the biggest fuckboy looking student of the entire university change into a tiny bunny by just looking at his boyfriend’s face and boxy smile. 

Ten and Johnny on the other hand, were just looking at each other, smiling, talking about their day, and at then end, Ten just gave Johnny a little kiss on his cheek while Johnny kissed the crown of Ten’s head. Taehyung and Johnny then introduced each other to their boyfriends. 

“Guk, this is Johnny Hyung, he’s my partner for the semester end project. Hyung, this is my boyfriend Jeonggukkie!!” Taehyung said with a smile. 

“Nice to meet you Jeongguk. My name is Johnny, and this is my boyfriend Ten”, Johnny replied, pointing to the small man, who had now brought his hand forward to shake it with Jeongguk’s. “Hi” he said with a small smile. “Nice to meet you.” 

“Likewise” Jeongguk replied, shaking Ten’s hand firmly. 

“Johnny also introduced the rest of his group to Jeongguk and Taehyung. “These are my friends Taeyong, Yuta and Sicheng. I believe we shall be seeing a lot of each other now!!”

“Yes, we definitely will!!” Jeongguk replied with a smile. 

They spoke for a while, getting to know each other, taking their numbers, and bidding each other goodbye. Taehyung and Johnny also made a list of dates they were both free after classes so that they could work on the project together. 

Finally, after a long day of classes and making new friends, the day came to an end and they all retreated back to their rooms. 

Taeyong sprawled himself across his bed the moment he reached his room. From the bed beside him, Chenle peeked out from under his blanket. 

“Hey hyung... you’re late today... is everything okay??”

Taeyong moved forward a little and patted Chenle’s head. 

“Johnny was late so Ten was waiting for him and I was waiting for Ten. So we got late. Dont worry about me Chenle... I’ll be fine.”

Chenle got out of his bed, climbed into Taeyong’s bed and gave him a very tight hug. 

“Hyung I love you. Please never fall ill and always take care of yourself okay!!”

Taeyong kept his chin on Chenle’s shoulder and hugged him even tighter. “Hyung will take care of himself. Don’t worry okay.”

Chenle went back to his bed, and they started talking about his day. They were having a very interesting conversation about Chenle’s two bestfriends, when there was a knock on the door. 

Taeyong went to open it... it was Ten. 

“Hey Ten whats up?? All okay??” Taeyong enquired. 

“Yeah I’m okay... but did you both hear that there is a new student joining our university. He’s a transfer student from the US. His roots are Korean but he’s spent a chunk of his life in the US and after the passing of his grandparents his parents have shifted back to Korea. His name is Jung Jaehyun, and he’s probably gonna be roommates with Chenle and you!!

And the sound of a New roommate, Chenle jumped up with happiness. 

“OH MY GOD YAAY!! Now when Taeyong hyung is not there I’ll have someone else to talk to!!”

Taeyong looked at Chenle with the most loving eyes, almost like that of a parent. Chenle was like his son, and he loved it when he was happy. 

“Taeyongie....you know what this means tho... right?”

“What do you mean?”

“Taeyong I knew you were stupid but THIS stupid?? You’re gonna have a half American roomamte. Your accent kink might kick in you know??” Ten wiggled his eyes at him. 

Taeyong looked at his best friend and laughed. 

“Ten... you’ve been reading too much ao3 lately okay. All this only happens in fics. So take a chill pill... and go back to your boyfriend ... for all we know this Jaehyun guy might be a huge jerk!!”

“Whatever you say Yongie....” Ten replied... but you never know when destiny decides to play a game with you. 

Taeyong knew destiny well. He’d come face to face with destiny a lot of times, and he’d seen how it turned out. Sure... destiny loved him and all, but destiny was going to make him work to find the love of his life. Destiny wasnt just going to airdrop the love of his life as if it was some kind of twitter meme. Taeyong was sure of that. 

 

AND BOY WAS HE WRONG.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I’ve tried my best to update fast and I’ve come up with this... I know its short but I will have yall know that this fic will mainly have short chapters. And another thing.. I have a lot of things going on in my life rn which is making it difficult for me to write so yall might have to wait longer for updates!! But please do remember to leave kudos and comments under my chapters and let me know if there is anything else you want in the stories because these really motivate me. Also, due to lack of time I wont be able to proofread any of my chapters so please overlook the mistakes. Thank you for reading!!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaehyun and Taeyong meet… and get to know each other

Jung Yoonoh. 21 years old. Lived in Connecticut all his life... he was a business major at Yale University for a year and a half, when he was forced to leave USA after his parents had a bitter divorce and he couldn’t bear staying with them any longer. Seoul National University wasn’t Ivy League for sure, but it was one of the best. He had family back in South Korea… an uncle, and after deciding that he would no more be a patsy to his parents and their meaningless arguments, he packed a bag and moved where he belonged. He loved his parents, but he knew that being away from them was for the best. And plus… he missed Seoul… he knew thats where he belonged, and hell would fall on him of he didn’t catch hold of this opportunity to go back to square one…

He had a perfect track record. Ever since elementary school, he had made his spot as an all rounder. Was top of his class at Yale, was good at Football as well as Basketball and on top of that, wasn’t a total geek. Sure he studied a lot.. too much to be precise but he knew how to have fun. He knew how to blow off steam and how to party. He was ambitious and driven, but at the same time, a person who could brighten your mood by simply being around you. So, in a nutshell, Jung Yoonoh was 180cms of pure raw talent, perfection and brilliance. 

And well physically… lets not get into that. With shiny eyes, a caring smile and a distinguished jawline, he had a well toned body and quite long legs. He was extremely extremely attractive, and had that aura around him, the aura that would make everyone fall in love with him… male and female alike. So yes... that was Jung Yoonoh, a perfect blend of ambitious, compassionate caring and sexy. 

 

When Taeyong first saw Jaehyun, he was sitting on his bed, scrolling through his phone. Clad in a pair of Ripped Denims and a royal blue t-shirt, his sunglasses perched obediently on top of his head, and a trolley suitcase in his hand, Jung Yoonoh knocked three times on the door of the dorm room. The door was open and Taeyong was glad because he wouldn’t have to go up and open the door. It wad a Saturday and he was very comfortable under his blanket, watching satisfying videos on instagram. When Taeyong looked up, he saw a tall young man with doe eyes, a dimple on his left cheek, and a questioning look on his face, standing at the door of his shared dormroom, trying to get his attention. Taeyong didn’t know what happened… but for a moment, he felt as if the time around him had stopped. He did not know what was hapenning, or why it was hapenning, but it just felt as if he was in an alternate universe…

When Taeyong came back to his senses, the young boy was still standing there… with a confused expression on his face… Taeyong got up from under his covers and went closer to the young man...

The young man seemed to be happy to have finally got Taeyong’s attention so as Taeyong got up and started moving towards him, he spoke up. 

“Hello, are you Zhong Chenle by any chance??” 

Taeyong stopped dead in his tracks. This man was not Korean. And even if he was, he sure as hell did not sound like one. He had an english accent, a very prominent one as well, and Taeyong was lying if he said he wasn’t just a teeny tiny bit attracted to this man, solely because of his accent. He wanted him to talk more, so that he could hear more of his voice and accent, but to his displeasure, the boy just stood there, waiting for an answer. 

Taeyong was standing there’ motionless, till the former waved his hand in front of Taeyong’s face, bringing him out of the trance. 

“Uh... no… Chenle is my roommate. He’s not here right now but if you want I can let him know that someone came to meet him!” Taeyong replied. 

“Oh no, that won’t be required. If you’re not Zhong Chenle, then you must be Lee Taeyong right??”

“Taeyong stood confused for a few seconds. How did this boy know about him and his roommate?? He was just going to ask him when Ten’s words from last night crept back in his mind… something about a new roommate from the US....?? Taeyong tallied all of Ten’s words from last night and it made sense… and it was at this moment that Taeyong knew that he was in for a ride. 

But before he could go into a trance again, Taeyong looked at the boy and smiled at him and said, “You must be the new roommate right??” Taeyong also brought his hand forward for the former to shake. 

With a very cute and dimpled smile, he took Taeyong’s hand and shook it. 

“Yes, that will be me. I’m Jung Yoonoh, you can call me Jaehyun. And as I asked before, you must be Lee Taeyong right??”

“Yes I am. Sorry for the inconvenience I wasn’t sure when you would be coming so I was a little surprised. And sorry for the mess that the room is in. Chenle and I aren’t the cleanest people you’ve met, I can assure you that,” Taeyong chuckled. 

Jaehyun looked at him, the smile still not leaving his face...

“Well, I guess that makes three of us.”

“Come in Jaehyun, why are you still standing at the door... this is as much your room as it it mine and Chenle’s!!” 

Jaehyun entered the room and looked around. It was pretty big, enough for three young boys to live in, but pretty messy at the same time. But again... it was a boys’ dorm room so expecting something better would be an exaggeration. 

“Jaehyun please keep your things and make yourself comfortable I’ll give Chenle a call!” Taeyong went out of the room. He first called Chenle and asked him to come back to the room quickly, as their new roommate was here. With a squeal of happiness, Chenle said that he was going to come as soon as he could. After finishing the conversation with Chenle, Taeyong called his best friend. 

“Yeah Taeyong whats up?” Ten replied from the other end of the line. 

“Bro lets meet up at the coffee shop opposite campus in like 20 minutes... I gotta talk to you!!” Taeyong’s voice sounded urgent. 

Ten immediately got worried. “Taeyongie is everything alright?? Do you need any help?? Do I get something for you??” 

“Ten I’m okay it’s just... lets please talk face to face okay I can’t talk like this! See you in some time. Bye!” Taeyong cut the call and went back to his dorm room. 

When he entered he saw that Jaehyun was sitting on the empty extra bed, going through Taeyong’s economics book. 

“Well this is a chance to make him talk”, Taeyong thought. So he went and sat on the bed beside Jaehyun’s and tried to start up a conversation...

But before he could start a conversation, Chenle came running into the room and jumped on Jaehyun’s bed and engulfed him in a bone crushing hug. Jaehyun was shocked to say the least, but he just softly chuckled and patted Chenle on the back while he continued hugging him. All the while Taeyong was just staring at them like he’d just witnessed some kind of blue moon. After two minutes, when Jaehyun was very clearly having problems in breathing, and Chenle showed no signs of letting him go, Taeyonf realised he had to do something. 

He went up to Jaehyun’s bed and softly nudged Chenle. 

“Chenle!! Behave!! This is not how I’ve raised you!!”

Chenle looked up, face all red with embarrassment. He quickly let go of Jaehyun and went and hid behind Taeyong. 

“Sorry new hyung!” Chenle whispered… “I got a little excited!!” 

Taeyong brought Chenle from behind him and patted his big head. Then they both went and sat on the bed beside Jaehyun’s. Taeyong spoke up first.

“Sooo Jaehyun??? Why don’t you tell your DEAR DEAR roommates a little about yourself!” He made sure to add some extra focus to the two “dears”. 

Jaehyung smiled sheepishly. Then, scratching the back of his head, he replied... “so well… my name is Yoonoh but you guys can call me Jaehyun. I was studying at Yale but I had to move from the US due to family reasons. My uncle lives here, and Seoul University is definitely one of the best in Asia, so I decided to shift here. I’m Korean, but I’ve been born and brought up in Connecticut which is why my accent may sound a little off, please don’t mind! And ah yes... I’m a business major and I’ve taken up marketing, finance, business law and economics as my other subjects!! And yeah I’ll be your roommate for the rest of the semester I guess?? I’m not really sure how this entire thing with roommates works in Korea??” Jaehyun finished talking and smiled at the both of them, who seemed to be listening intently. 

Chenle was indeed listening intently, excited and curious to know more about his new hyung, but mister Lee Taeyong really wasn’t in the mood. I mean, he sure was listening but he was not paying attention to a single word Jaehyun said. All he could focus on was his accent. The way he twirled his tongue when he pronounced the R, the way his lips formed a circle when he was saying words beginning with W, How his tongue touched his teeth when he pronounced L, and how he pronounced most words very differently than a regular korean would. And needless to say, Taeyong‘s mind was acting up. When Ten told him last night that he was going to have a roommate with an accent, he didn’t believe him. He wished for a tiny part of it to be true, but he still did not believe him. And now when he was sitting there, Jung Jaehyun sitting in front of him with his accent displayed in full glory... Taeyong knew that this was going to be one long ass ride.....

Taeyong wasn’t really paying attention to Jaehyun till he mentioned the word “economics”. Rapidly comimg out of his stance, all he could catch was the last part of the conversation, from which he figured that economics must be one of Jaehyun’s subjects!

“Hey”, Taeyong quipped, “We probably have one common class... economics!!”

Jaehyun looked very happy and relieved to hear that atleast ONE person he knew had a class with him. 

“Thank god!” He breathed out. “I really cannot bear the thought of not knowing ANYONE in the class and still attending the classes!! I wonder hoe people do that?? How can you just spend a whole day not having any common classes at all??”

Taeyong was being honest to himself… a confused Jaehyun was a sight to behold. With his eyebrows almost touching, and his nose scrunched up while he had a genuinely confused expression on his face.... Taeyong was close to 100% sure that Jaehyun was nothing less than a spectacular creation of God. 

Taeyong didn’t believe in love at first sight... neither did he believe that there would actually be someone out there in the world who would actually be his ideal type. But with Jaehyun sitting in front of him… a soft smile playing on his lips as he excitedly chatted with Chenle… Taeyong was ready to believe that he was wrong… and that fate really was playing a game with him.... Taeyong didn’t believe in things like “soulmates”. Often he’s seen Yuta kissing the crown of Sicheng’s head, and calling him his soulmate… often he’s seen Johnny pull Ten into his embrace after a tiring day and say that he was the one and only light of his life… and honestly, Taeyong did not believe in any of these things. The concept of soulmates, the relative feeling that there was only one person in the world for you… thats not how Lee Taeyong woked. Taeyong believed that every person had a rate of compatibility with all other people in the world. Some gelled very well while others didn’t like spending time with each other. And this is exactly why he didnt believe in this theory of “only ones” and soulmates”. According to him, there are people with different compatibility rates, and unfortunately, most people around the world have low compatibility rates with others. So, if you’re really lucky in life, you’ll find someone with a high compatibility with you. Thats the best you can do. The rest of it… you have to work. No relationship can be based solely on the concept of “we are meant to be”. Every relationship requires work, and cannot just call the other his “soulmate” and make their marriage legal. Taeyong had very strict beliefs about love and romance, and love at first sight, etc etc… nobody had ever been able to change his beliefs. But as he stood there, looking at Jaehyun from the corner of his eye, he did not know what was hapenning inside him… But all he knew is that maybe it was time for his long lasting beliefs to finally break… maybe… it was time for a new beginning.....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey so I’m sorry for being late but it was rlly difficult to write because the whol family was over at my place for Christmas and New Years. But anyway here is the 3rd Chapter I hope its upto the mark. Its 4:05am and I’m pretty much dead rn but I somehow managed to finish writing because i was DETERMINED to update today! So here is your update and I hope yall read and like it! And another thing... please please PLEASE leave comments behind because if nobody comments I’m not able to understand if my writing is okay or if it needs to get better, or if I’m becoming to monotonous. I’ll be really grateful if I could atleast know that my writing is okay or readable so PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do comment and I’ve gone too long with this sorry lmao!! But Pleaae PLEASEEEE!! Also... I haven’t been able to proofread anything so excuse my spelling mistakes i’m pretty dead rn. Thats it for now. Idk when the next part shall come but hopefully soon!! Thank You for reading!!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taeyong talks to Ten about Jaehyun featuring some Taeten as bffs and Johnten as boyfriends.

As he told Ten, Taeyong was at the Coffee Shop outside their university, twenty minutes later. There weren’t too many people, but from the corner of his eye, Taeyong could see Taehyung and Jeongguk sitting in a sofa seat at the absolute end. They were watching something on Taehyung’s phone. Jeongguk had his arms wrapped around Taehyung’s slim waist, and he had kept his head on Taehyung’s shoulder. Sometimes he would softly blow into Taehyung’s ears or whisper something which would make Taehyung turn around and give him a boxy smile, before booping his nose. So in a nutshell, Taehyung and Jeongguk really were the university‘s hottest and most hapenning couple and with the speed at which their relationship was traveling, if was safe to say that there was no couple who came even close to them. 

Taeyong was never a fan of PDA or open flirting, mostly because he had never been in a long term relationship and his ex boyfriends were all trashy. And if you asked him, then he would probably tell you that he didn’t have time for a relationship and that he was too busy keeping his grades up to think about boyfriends. Taeyong wasn’t exactly averse to relationships... but according to him... he was better off as single. Sure, sometimes he’d see Yuta trying to cook some Chinese dish for Sicheng because he was sad and he missed home or Sicheng and Yuta cuddling on the couch in their dorm room, watching anime because the latter hated watching them alone. He would sometimes also see Ten sing some weird Jazz song from the 1990’s because it made Johnny feel closer to Chicago, or he would see Johnny watching some Thai reality progamme even though he didn’t understand shit, just because Ten wanted to and he’d think what it would be like to have someone… someone who cared about you as much as Yuta and Johnny cared about their boyfriends... someone who’d pamper and spoil you, do whatever it takes just to see you smile, and love and respect you. And it’s not that he was ugly… both boys and girls alike were quite attracted to him, and would go to great lengths to be with him. But Taeyong never felt the same way. And plus, why did he even need a boyfriend?? His father was well off, he had a healthy relationship him, he was doing well in class and on top of it all, he had friends who cared about him and would do ANYTHING for him. Yes… he had issues with his mother, but he never thought too much about them. Taeyong’s father had given him a lot of love and told him to not mind of anything his mom mught say to him, and Taeyong had followed his advice to the last word. So overall, Taeyong was a happy boy. A single, but happy boy. He was confident that he wasn’t in need of a boyfriend. That was till Jung Jaehyun showed up. Now Taeyong was sitting in a coffee shop, contemplating his life decisions, while waiting for his best friend. 

As if on queue, the bell above the door of the coffee shop chimed, signalling that someone had entered. Taeyong looked up to see Ten entering, and he lifted his hand up and waved at him, signalling him to come. Ten came and sat across him. 

“Yeah Taeyongie whats up?? You look fine, but why did you call me in such a hurry??”

“My new roommate came today and I think I’m in love,” Taeyong breathed out. 

Ten just chucked. Then he asked, “So, he got that accent??”

“Ten you have NO IDEA. He’s got a whole package. The body, the legs, the accent, the smile, the voice… OH MY GOD EVEN HIS FACE IS LIKE A SCULPTURE!!! He was born to be a model I’m telling you!! And he has these beautiful eyes and he looks directly at you when he talks and today when Chenle jumped on him to give him a hug he didn’t even flinch he’s such a gentleman oh god and I swear to god I’d be lying to you if I tell you that I don’t have a teeny tiny crush on him!!” By the time Taeyong finished, he was out of breath and Ten was visibly amused. 

“Seriously you’re just gonna sit there and laugh at my situation??? That is NOT what best friends to Mister Chittaphon!!” Taeyong looked pissed. 

“Oh my god Taeyongie you’re clearly making a bigger deal out of this that it actually is... I mean I get it... your new roommate is hot... and you’re ONLY physically attracted to him... AT THIS POINT… because he ticks off all your boxes in your ideal guy list... so what?? I mean there are probably a million others in the world!! You’re thinking too much about this. Its a crush Yongie... a C-R-U-S-H!! Its gonna wear out... just give it some time...!! Plus... at this point its only physical!! And you’re more mature than to be in love with someone just because he’s hot! So chill... its gonna be okay!!” Taeyong finished his lecture and took a sip of Taeyong’s coffee. 

Taeyong sat there quietly for sometime, reminiscing his friend’s words. Then he looked up to Ten...

“You know for a man your height.. you do have the maturity of an adult!!”

“Literally Fuck You Lee Taeyong I hope you never find a boyfriend and you die alone.”

“Shut up Ten, just because you’re in a happy relationship doesn’t give you the right to shit on my love life.” 

“Well I would shit on your love life if it ACTUALLY existed. At this point, even the existence of Narnia is higher than that of your love life!”

“You tiny fucking shithole i swear to god i’m going to—“ Ten and Taeyong’s little scuffle was interrupted by someone. 

“Hello, excuse me you’re Ten, right??”

Ten looked up and saw that it was Jeon Jeongguk.

“Oh Jeongguk... hi.... can I help you??” Ten asked. 

“Uhm Ten... hi... yeah so I was asking... do you have a partner for the semester end performance??

“What semester end performance??” To say that Ten was confused was an understatement...

“Ummm... did you not attend class today??” Jeongguk inquired. 

“No I didn’t.... I got caught up with something else... what is this semester end performance??”

“Uh well to put it simply, we have to work in partners and choreograph a 3 minute performance as a part of our semester end project for dance class. We have to combine the dance forms of two different countries and come up with something and since you’re from Thailand and I’m from Korea... I thought we could partner up or something?? Only if you don’t mind of course!!” Jeongguk seemed quite skeptical...

“Oh thanks for letting me know I actually had no idea! And yes I would love to partner with you for this performance!! My boyfriend and your boyfriend are already doing their art project together so its going to be easy for us to coordinate as well!!” Ten answered with a smile. 

With every word that Ten said, Jeongguk seemed to get less and less tense. After Ten finished, he just smiled and put his hand out for a firm handshake. 

“Thank You so much Ten!! I look forward to working with you and learning a lot because after all, you are the best dancer in our class!!”

At his compliment, Ten got very shy. 

“Don’t flatter me so much Jeongguk you’re not so bad yourself. You think that just because you stand at the back during practice that nobody notices you?? Well I do, and trust me... you are one of the best dancers in our university... I’m sure we’ll have a lot of fun working together!!”

“Their conversation went on for sometime, and Taeyong just sat and listened to it all. After the end of the conversation, Jeongguk went back to his seat and Ten resumed talking to Taeyong. 

“Wow that was long I think I almost fell asleep.”

“Sorry bro, but I need my grades, so I need my project to go well” Ten replied. 

“No it’s alright not a problem Ten!! But did you notice that Jeongguk looked so skeptical... almost as if he was scared and shy to come talk?”

“Honestly I thought I was the only person to notice that, so I thought I was imagining it. That’s so weird though?? I mean he’s one of the most popular boys on campus and yet he’s scared to approach someone in his own class??”

“Lol maybe he has a crush on you!!” Taeyong quipped. 

Ten looked at him with an unreadable expression on his face. 

“Taeyong, last week this one guy from senior year tried to hold Taehyung’s hand and Jeongguk broke his nose and his two front teeth. With loyalty and love like that for Taehyung... I really doubt he’s got a crush on someone else... specially me! I mean... the whole campus knows about me and Johnny!! I don’t know what the reason for his weird behaviour was, but it sure as hell was not him having a crush on me!!” 

“Yeah guess you’re right!!” Taeyong said. “A book really cannot be judged by his cover. And if I follow this idea, then there is a chance that my roommate Jaehyun who I have a massive and fatass crush on might turn out to be the complete opposite of what he looks like! For all I know he could be a douchebag!”

“Okay now you’re just speculating. He didn’t seem like one at the beginning right?? So he’s probably NOT one!!”

“Ten can you be positive for ONE second?!”

“Wait... you WANT Jaehyun to be a douchebag??”

“Yes, because if he is perfect at EVERYTHING I MIGHT JUST END UP FUCKING FALLING IN LOVE WITH HIM!!!”

“Oh my god Taeyong I possibly cannot have this discussion with you anymore! Go back to your dorm and find out about Jaehyun by yourself!!”

The two boys left the coffee shop and went back to their respective rooms. 

Ten went back to his room to find Johnny in one corner of the room, a palette with colours in his right hand and a very fine paint brush on his left. He had his headphones over his years and some very loud music was playing inside. He had a canvas in front of him and on it was drawn a potrait of an old man. Johnny was giving his painting the final touches. 

Since he had his back towards Ten, the latter slowly approached him and slid both his arms around his neck and gave him a back hug. Although Johnny was sitting, his head came upto Ten’s chest, because Ten, after all was quite short compared to his boyfriend. 

Johnny smiled as he felt Ten’s arms around his neck. With one swift move, he managed to put his paint stuff away, turned his body a little, and held Ten by his waist. Then he held on to his waist firmly and turned back around, such that Ten was now in front of him, resting on his lap while he still held him by the waist for support. Ten’s arms were still around Johnny’s neck. 

Johnny leaned in and caught Ten’s lips for a kiss. They stayed like that for some time, lazily making out with each other, enjoying each other’s company. At last, they pulled out of the kiss. But Ten continued to sit on Johnny’s lap, and Johnny’s firm hold on Ten’s waist made it clear that he did not want him to get up either. They just stared at each other lovingly, knowing that at that moment, their singnificant other was all that mattered. 

For a couple of minutes, it was all silent and just the sound of the both of them breathing. At last, Johnny spoke up...

“Hey babe, where had you gone??”

“To the coffee shop opposite college. Taeyong called me. He’s having a lovelife crisis!” 

“What??! I didn’t even know Taeyong had a love life, and he already has a crisis??”

“Well Taeyong didn’t have a love life till today morning either. But his new roommate came.. Jung Jaehyun. And Taeyong is really going through it.” Ten replied in a singsong voice. 

“Oh my god has Taeyong really found his accent boy?? FINALLY???? Oh my god what a relief I hated seeing him the only single one in our group!!”

“Not so fast babe.. Taeyong actually does NOT want to fall in love with him.... he called me because he was scared he would fall in love with his roommate and his entire “I DON’T NEED A BOYFRIEND SPEECH won’t be valid anymore! I don’t know what’s wrong with him jeez can he just not be happy for himself??”

“Its Taeyong... let him be... I’m sure he’ll figure something out... don’t sweat it too much okay... he’s a grown boy and he’ll figure it out... and if not... you’re always there to guide him!”

Ten carefully listened, as Johnny went on.

“I don’t know what type of guy Jaehyun is... but Taeyong knows whats best. I know for a fact that he is not planning on spending the rest of his life alone, and if this Jaehyun guy truly is good for him, then he can figure that out himsel f. Don’t worry your small self with it baby... he’s be fine.”

“Thank you babe, I knew I could always count on you.” Ten said with a small smile. “And if you make a height joke about me one more time I swear to god Seo Youngho I will chop your hair off in your sleep!!” Ten hit Johnny’s chest with his fist and then proceeded to get off his lap. 

Ten was going the other way, but before he went too far, Johnny caught him by the wrist and pulled him towards himself, such that their bodies would be almost touching each other. Then, taking one more step forward, Johnny held Ten by his waist and softly kissed his forehead. Then, bringing Ten’s chin up, he whispered...

“Tennie you know how much I love giving you forehead kisses and how much you love receiving them... I’m glad you’re short because you know what... you’re height is perfect for me to be able to give you forehead kisses...”

Johnny really was a sap. His words never failed to make Ten melt, and this time it was no different. 

“Oh my god Johnny you’re so sappy god I love you so much you asshole!!” Ten hugged Johnny and buried his face in his chest. Johnny just put his arms around Ten, and enjoyed the moment. 

While Johnny and Ten were in their dorm, enjoying each other’s company like the couple they were, Taeyong was slowly walking back to his dorm. His dorm was in the last building, but since he really liked being out in the open, he didn’t mind walking that extra bit. He reached his dorm building and climbed up the stairs. Then he entered his dorm room. 

As he entered and closed the door, he turned around and he could not believe his eyes. There, sitting on the bed was Jung Yoonoh... with someone else beside him.....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well... sorry not sorry for ending this with a cliffhanger... I’m not very good with writing so I’m sorry if its not upto the mark.... :( anyways thank you for reading, and please don’t hesitate to leave me a comment or suggestions!! Once again... ignore the typos I really do not have much time :(( Also... if you have any suspicions about who the mystery person is who is sitting with Jaehyun then leave it in the comments section!! Thanks again for reading, hope you have a good day!!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay its been five chapters and I realised I should clear this out... this fic will NOT HAVE ANY SMUT AT ALL. I dont know if ppl are reading this just because there may be smut in the end, but I’m sorry to break your bubble, this is going to be a very pure and soft fic. Now that I’ve cleared that out, let me get back to this chapter!! I added some flirty Jaeyong and Yuwin’s backstory. I hope yall like it and let me know what else you want to see in this story! My typos are uncountable and I’m sorry for them but I really do not have any time to correct them!! Once again, thanks for reading!!!

Taeyong came back to his dorm room and saw Jaehyung animatedly chatting with someone. The voice did sound familiar, but it was not Chenle, and Taeyong knew. To say that he was surprised would be an understatement, considering that Jaehyun had arrived less than twelve hours back, and he hadn’t attended a single class yet, since it was the weekend. 

Taeyong went closer to see who it was. Right then, the figure that Jaehyun was talking to, turned around to face him

“Jeno???” Taeyong enquired.. and looking at Jaehyun he asked “You both know each other??”

“Yeah, Jeno is actually my cousin!!” Jaehyun replied. “How do you and Jeno know each other??”

Before Jeno could reply, Taeyong blurted out “He has a fatass crush on my son. In fact, he’s had a crush for months, and he’s trying to get over it because he’s too scared to confess as a matter of fact, I am pretty sure that by now, Jeno is absolutely in love with my baby!!”

“By the time Taeyong finished, the tips of Jeno’s ears had become red with embarrassment. He dramatically fell back on Jaehyun’s bed and used his pillow to cover his face. Through the pillow, his faint voice could be heard, “Taeyong hyung please.... don’t say all this out loud, it’s complicated between us”, etc etc. All this time, Jaehyun had been listening intently, amused at the conversation. At last when had had a chance, he asked Taeyong…

“Wow so much went on in the last forty seconds... Jeno has a crush?? A crush on your SON??? Your BABY?? Don’t you think you had a son a little too early??”

Taeyong only laughed. 

“His name is Jaemin. He’s a music major. He’s really young and one of my favourite juniors, so I call him my son. 

“Ahhh!” Jaehyun exclaimed. “That makes sense! Jeno, when were you planning on telling me about Jaemin??” 

“Never, hyung!! He’s too sweet, and WAAAAY out of my league. I’m just glad that we’re friends honestly I cannot imagine someone like him actually wanting to be MY friend! Hell, half the batch crushes on him!!” Jeno’s voice sounded very high pitched and honestly, it was worrying Jaehyun just a little bit. 

But before he could say anything, Taeyong swiftly jumped into Jaehyun’s bed and took Jeno’s head on his lap. Then slowly, caressing his hair, he told him, “Jeno... don’t underestimate yourself child. You’re an amazing person, and an even better friend. Jaemin is truly lucky to have you. And honestly, he’s a little tired of all these boys and girls running after him... he loves being with you because he doesnt need to worry about being mobbed, he knows you’ll protect him. Jaemin cherishes you Jeno, and I think its time you cherish yourself too.” 

Taeyong finished his little speech but kept caressing Jeno’s hair. 

Hardly a few seconds had passed, when Jeno got up from his lap and gave Taeyong a gigantic bear hug. 

“Hyuuuung!! I love you soooo much!! Thank you!”

Then he got off the bed and hugged Jaehyun as well. 

“Okay Taeyongie hyung, Jaehyun hyung... I gotta scoot!! See you in class on Monday!! Good Night!!” Saying that, he left. 

As soon as he left, Jaehyun went and sat beside Taeyong. 

“Soooo... Taeyongie???” Jaehyun had a playful smirk on his face, and Taeyong’s face reddened at the nickname. 

“You know, that thing you told Jeno... it was really beautiful. I’ve known him for a really long time, and he’s very self deprecating. Even about the most trivial things. Thank You, he really needed that!”

“Your accent is really pretty!” Taeyong blurted out. Really, it hadn’t meant to come out that way. Its just that between listening to him talk about Jeno, and observing his slight pressure on certain consonants when he spoke, Taeyong was ABSOLUTELY mesmerised whenever a single syllable left Jaehyun’s tongue. 

But as of now, he had blurted out what he was thinking, and had gone bright red when he realised that he did not say it in his mind, as as of then, Jaehyun was looking at him with an expression he couldn’t fathom. 

And as for Jaehyun, that poor boy was really out of words. Here he was talking to his roommate about his cousin, when all of a sudden he just got complimented and possibly flirted wjtb. 

“Uhm... uhhh... Thank You..” Jaehyun really was not being able to form a sentence properly, he was fidgeting in his place. It didnt take a genius to understand that he was uncomfortable.

Taeyong sensed the discomfort. 

“Oh my gosh, Jaehyun, I am so sorry I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable by a compliment, I swear that I was supposed to say that in my mind but somehow it came out I’m so embarrassed right now I’m so sorry Jaehyun!!” Taeyong was rambling. 

Jaehyun found it quite cute and endearing. But he stopped Taeyong from talking any further, but putting his left hand over Taeyong’s right hand. Then, he rubbed soft circles with his thumb on the back of his palm. 

“Shhhh Taeyong...” Jaehyung spoke softly... “forget about what happened, shh shh, just don’t say anything anymore, concentrate on my voice shh shhhhh...”

Taeyong shut up. He quietly listened to what Jaehyun had to say. 

“You did not make me uncomfortable, and you have no reason to be embarrassed. You didnt say anything wrong... all you did was give me an innocent compliment. And its alright. I just got a little fidgety because I did not know how to react to a comment by a pretty boy....” 

Jaehyung finished, and then took his other hand to slowly push back the brown bangs that had fallen over Taeyong’s eyes. He softly pushed them back, and tucked them behind his ears. Then, he caressed Taeyong’s cheekbone with his thumb. 

“Yeah.... you’re really pretty... like... SUPER pretty.... you sure you’re not an angel??”

Now it was Taeyong’s turn to go red. He didn’t know how to react, so he just took his hands and hid his face with his palms, and refused to talk. 

Jaehyun watched with a grin, as he saw the tips of Taeyong’s ears change from a glowing melanin to a deep shade of red. He chuckled under his breath. 

“Hey Taeyongie... don’t hide your face... you are beautiful...”

Every word Jehyun said just made Taeyong blush even harder. At one point, Taeyong was sure that it wasn’t possible to get any redder. He could feel the heat of his cheeks on his palms. 

Jaehyun tried to persuade Taeyong to move his hands. When he didn’t budge, Jaehyun just decided to take matters into his own hands. 

He started ticking Taeyong. And Taeyong being the ticklish person he is, couldnt take it. There he was lying on Jaehyun’s bed, squirming and trying to get away while Jaehyun tickled the shit out of him. 

By the time Jaehyun actually stopped, Taeyong was completely out of breath, and also a little sweaty. They looked at each other, and smiled. 

“You know, Taeyong”, Jaehyun started, “you have a really pretty laugh...”

And the circle started all over again. Taeyong tried to roll over and hide his face in the matress, but Jaehyun held him firmly before he could move. 

“Taeyong... how are you blushing at everything I say? I cannot believe that a man like you isn’t used to Guys praising him left right and centre!!”

“Oh my god Jaehyun... yeah guys praise me a lot... but that’s different. Its mostly because they want to get into my pants. You know... they just want to “experiment” with my body... and I’m not going to let them so that. But your compliments on the other hand are quite genuine, so you cannot blame me for blushing when a hot guy compliments me back to back, out of nowhere. 

Jaehyun moved his hand that was holding Taeyong, and the latter sat up. Then, he looked into Jaehyun’s eyes. 

“Jaehyun choked. He didn’t know on what... “it was probably my spit...” he thought to himself, and looked back at Taeyong...

“D-did you just call me hot??” Jaehyun enquired. 

“Yeah I did. What about it??” Taeyong didn’t know where all of this confidence came from, but he decided to just enjoy it while he had it, and see how far he could go. 

Jaehyun might have fallen back for a second, but he was no pussy. He scooted closer to Taeyong... such that there was hardly any space left between them, and looked at Taeyong dead in the eye. 

They were both staring at each other for god knows how long, till something happened, and they both burst out laughing. 

There they were, sitting on the same bed, laughing together.... and it was at that point that Jaehyun felt that maybe... just maybe... this petite boy with crinkles on his eyes, who was sitting in front of him and laughing, deserved the world. He didn’t know whether he was ready, or even willing to do it for him, but somewhere inside... Jaehyun knew... that there was a spark. 

And as for Taeyong, he was pretty sure he had something for the boy. Was it love?? No, he couldn’t be sure. He’d just met the boy. But all he knew that he sure felt something for him... something along the lines of affection... maybe he felt nothing more than what two friends feel for each other.. but whatever it was... he couldnt figure it out. 

He knew he had to ask someone about it. And who better to ask about flirty comments, than the very man who had flirted with his crush since day one, and still said the cheesiest lines to his boyfriend every chance he could. Taeyong smiled to himself. He knew just who to go to. 

Taeyong made his way to his dormroom and knocked on the door. 

“Yah, Yuta!! I’m coming in in 10 seconds. You and Sicheng better not be doing any funny business when I step inside.”

Taeyong didn’t get a reply, so he just opened the door and walked it. Yuta was his best friend, and he knew that he wouldn’t have minded Taeyong getting into his room without permission. They had gone past that stage a long time back. 

“When Taeyong entered, he saw Yuta sitting on the bed, doing something on his laptop, earphones covering his ears.

“No wonder he didnt hear me knock!” Taeyong said to himself. 

Yuta was on his laptop, working on some assignment of his, Taeyong assumed, and beside him, there was someone under the covers, sleeping. Taeyong presumed it was Sicheng. 

Taeyong went upto Yuta, and waved his hands in front of him. 

That must have caught Yuta’s attention, as he looked up, and then immediately put his laptop down and took his earphones off himself. 

“What’s up??” Yuta whispered. He was keeping his voice low, since Sicheng was sleeping 

“I need to talk about something?? Are you too busy??” Taeyong was also talking softly. 

“Uhhh.. not really... this assignment is actually Sichengie’s and its due next week but its not a problem... I’m almost done. Why, all okay??”

“Uhm.. yeah... nothing serious I’m just... confused.”

Yuta looked towards his left, to a sleeping Sicheng. He caressed his forehead, and smiled and him lovingly. Then he whispered to Taeyong, “We cannot talk here. Let Sichengie sleep... lets go talk on the couch.”

“Alright I’m going, come quickly okay!” Taeyong left first, and Yuta gave his boyfriend a fond smile, and a chaste kiss on the forehead before following Taeyong out. Taeyong and Yuta went to a different room. 

It was a part of the same room, but it was a little far from the bedroom. Taeyong was actually glad that Yuta’s dormroom was quite big. Yuta was the captain of the University Football Team, and in the two years that he’d been there, they hadn’t lost a single tournament. Yuta was their captain and star player, and in order to keep him happy and content, the University had offered him the largest dormroom on campus. It was pretty much like a whole apartment, with two bedrooms and attached washrooms, a kitchen, a living room and a dining table on one side. Yuta shared that with his boyfriend Sicheng and his friend Taeil, although Taeil was hardly ever in the room. He was always with his boyfriend, which meant that Sicheng and Yuta had the whole “apartment” to themselves most of the times. And it was also the regular meeting spot of all their friends, during breaks, or when they couldn’t meet up during university hours. 

Taeyong and Yuta sat on the couch. Then, Taeyong started talking. 

“Hey Yuta why are you doing Sicheng’s assignment and why is Sicheng sleeping at this time of day?? Is he okay??”

“Uhhh... something happened in class yesterday... these ppl tried to kinda bully him and since he’s a little small... they tried to... you know... push him and shit... and I wasn’t there with him since I had football practice....thankfully there was a professor around so they didn’t do anything... he’s upset about that so he’s spending the weekend sleeping. He was probably planning on pulling an all nighter to complete it but I know its not good for him so I did his one instead.”

“Oh my god poor Sicheng! Yuta we can talk about this later I think you should be with him now!”

“No Taeyongie it’s alright he’s sleeping anyway and you sait it isn’t that urgent, but you still came to my dorm instead of calling me to yours... I can make some time for you okay! Tell me.. what is it??”

Taeyong began....

“So I got a new roommate.... his name is Jung Yoonoh but he goes by Jaehyun. And he..... HE’S SO FUCKING HOT YUTA YOU HEVE NO IDEA I SWEAR TO GOD... HE IS SO WELL BUILT, HAS NICE LEGS AND THICK BICEPS AND OH MY GOD HIS ACCENT... I WOULD GIVE HIM MY LIFE IF HE ASKED AND WE HAD THIS LITTLE MOMENT LIKE 10 MINUTES BACK AND WE WERE ALL FLIRTING AND SHIT BUT THEN WE JUST LAUGHED IT OFF AND I DONT KNOW WHAT THE BOTH OF US HAVE BUT ITS SO WEIRD AND I’M CONFUSED AND I NEED ADVICE YUTA HELP MEEEE!”

Yuta listened intently, the smirk on his face pretty evident. Then he spoke...

“Firstly I didn’t understand much about what you said but whoooa Taeyongie.... till yesterday you didn’t have a lovelife and today you’re in a crisis... damn that is a long long jump... and secondly.. what moment did you have.. you’re gonna have to be more specific Taeyong!!”

Taeyong then told Yuta the whole thing about what happened before he came here... the flirting with Jaehyun... the nicknames and everything else that happened.

“.....so in a nutshell... I don’t know whether I’m in love with him.... honestly I don’t think I am because its too early... but I definitely do feel something for him, and I don’t know what...!!”

“Okay... understood. Now tell me how I can help you!”

“You had a thing for Sicheng from the very beginning right?? Like all the flirting, the praises... you were whipped for him from the very beginning whereas Sicheng was more shy, reserved, and didn’t wish to get into any drama. So then.... what happened?? How did the both of you get together?? What nailed it??

Before Yuta could answer, he heard the door of the bedroom open. He turned around and saw Sicheng walking towards them. He was wearing Yuta’s hoodie, which was obviously pretty big for him, and was rubbing his eyes. He looked really tired, and Taeyong felt sorry for whatever he was going through. 

On seeing Sicheng, Yuta immediately ran towards him and pulled him towards himself. He have him a big bear hug, and then the both of them sat on the couch, opposite Taeyong. Sicheng put his arms around Yuta’s waist, and rested his head on his shoulder. Yuta put one of his arms around Sicheng’s waist protectively. Then, he turned back to Taeyong. 

“Hey Sicheng.. how are you feeling now??” Taeyong asked. 

“I’m okay hyung... don’t worry about me! What brings you here??

“Taeyong has a lovelife crisis, and he says it’s similar to our story... so he’s come to ask me about how the both of us ended up getting together and how I finally persuaded you to give me a chance.” Yuta smiled fondly. 

Sicheng didn’t say anything, he just smiled and snuggled closer to Yuta. 

“Hyung....” Sicheng started, “Yuta and my story, like you know, was largely based on coincidences so if you ask me... I doubt your relationship might play out the same way, but I’ll tell you the details anyway. 

Yuta started.

“Sicheng caught my eye the first time I actually saw him on campus, and I started talking to him randomly, just during breaks and before and after class hours, just to be friends with him. But obviously Sicheng wasn’t interested and he kept turning me down, and not replying to me. But I think I got really lucky because we had the same major, and all our classes were the same during the first semester. And since we both were foreigners, nobody really wanted to be with us, because my korean was terrible and Sicheng could hardly speak. But the fact that I knew bits and pieces of Chinese was another advantage I got, because Sicheng had no other option but to let me sit beside him, and let me help him. I helped him with his Korean, he helped me with Psychology.... slowly we became very close. We were always together and there was no reason not be be, because we had all the same subjects and we were roommates... I had fallen in love with Sicheng a long time back, but I knew better than to tell him. I always knew he would never accept me, and he would probably also start hating me. 

Sicheng laughed a little at the last remark. 

“Honestly, I think he’s right. It wasn’t till Yuta got selected as the captain of the football team, that I actually realised what I felt for him. He would be away for very long and most of the time he’d just come back and pass out... and we’d be together in class and during breaks and its not like we were losing touch or something... but me missing him whenever he was away for football practice really made me realise my feelings for him... and honestly, with Yuta, I couldn’t imagine being awkward... and this one time he was preparing for this big final that he had, and I had not seen him for A WHOLE WEEK... like he’d leave before I woke up and when he came back he didn’t have the energy to say anything beyond a good night and he was sleeping during classes as well and I hadn’t had a conversation with him for so long that I really thought I was gonna be sick... that day he came back to our room right before his game because he’d forgotten his lucky jersey and I saw him and I dont know what I was thinking... I just... went upto him and I kissed him...”

Sicheng and Yuta were both laughing softly, reminiscing. Taeyong always said that he hated it when they were being cute in front of him, but secretly he adored the couple. He knew Sicheng and Yuta very well, and knew that there could be nobody better for them, than each other. 

Yuta continued their story. 

“So Sicheng kissed me and I was so confused... I was almost sure that I was imagining it because I was stressed about the game and I wanted to calm myself down by happy thoughts but then Sicheng kept both his hands on two sides of my face and tilted my face to deepen the kiss and at that time I knew that this was NOT a drill and I was indeed kissing him. I broke free and and looked at him and I could understand that he was confused about my behaviour and it was all so complicated so I just smiled at him, and told him that we would talk it all out once my game was over... and I think that was it...”

“Yuta scored a brace in that game, and our university won the tournament. The team had a celebration that night but Yuta said he couldn’t go, because he had somewhere else to be, he came back to the dorm and I was there waiting for him and then too... we didn’t say anything... he just ran towards me and kissed me, again. Then he told me that he won the tournament only because he knew I would be waiting for him to come back and he wanted to bring good news back to me. We stayed uo really late that night, and by the time it was morning, we were unofficially dating, and in another couple of days, Yuta had asked me out on a proper date. By the end of the week we were dating, and the rest is history!!” Sicheng finished the story and snuggled even closer to Yuta... if that was even possible. 

“Oh and on our first date I kissed Sicheng... and till then he’d always told me that he never gives in on the first date but that night we came back to our room and we were all over each other and then we——“ Yuta was interrupted by Tae putting his hand on his ears and screaming gibberish. 

“I needed the confession details... not details about your damn sex life Yuta!!”

“Well you’ve heard that bit. Now what do you think??”

Taeyong had heard their whole story carefully. Of course, he’d heard this story before, being best friends with Yuta came with the “I want to talk about how my boyfriend and I got together 24/7” clause.... but this was the first time he’d heard it from both parties together, and had understood the true essence of it. 

Taeyong smiled fondly at the couple sitting in front of him. 

“Boys I’m so happy you guys figured it out because I cannot imagine you guys with anyone else but each other. Both of you deserve it!” Taeyong smiled softly as he got up and ruffled their hair affectionately. 

“So Taeyong,” Yuta began, “how similar do you think our story can be to your and your roommate’s story, if you two DO indeed end up getting together??”

“Honestly you guys I don’t even know whether I’m in love with him or not... I know that I keep talking about accents and all but honestly now that I actually see it, I’m not gonna fall for someone just because he has a Pretty accent! I’d have to date half the world’s population if I kept my standards that low!! But yeah.... Jaehyun, he’s... different. I really don’t show too much of interest in guys, but Jaehyun, he just... he’s so endearing, I feel like forgetting all my rules, breaking all my boundaries and making an exception just for him. Its to early to call it love, or even a crush, but yeah, I do have some good feeling about him.” Taeyong smiled softly. 

“Taeyongie, I don’t know how this will play out.. I don’t even know what you feel for Jaehyun but just know that Sichengie and I are here for you because trust me, we both know what its like to be there. So don’t worry okay, and just talk to us about how it goes on... and yeah, your first step, just initiate some conversation with him okay, could be anything, doesn’t matter. Just see if you’re comfortable enough, and yeah, don’t hold back Taeyongie. You’ve not dated in very long, and you deserve to be happy. If you think that Jaehyun is worth it, then just go for it.”

“I will Yuta, I promise. Take care of yourself Sicheng. I’ll see y’all later, good night!!” Taeyong left their room. 

Taeyong slowly walked down the stairs and made his way towards his dorm. As he walked, Yuta and Sicheng’s words echoed in his ears. They were right, he was very uptight when it came to dating people. He had a weird attraction towards accents, and now that a man who fit his standards was right there in front of him, Taeyong was scared. He didn’t know what to do. But he wasn’t panicking, because he knew that no matter what happened, he had his friends backing him up, who would protect him, no matter what. Taeyong smiled unmindfully as he thought about his friends. Maybe they were right... maybe it was time to let go of old habits, and let new things enter his life...

And one of those new things went by the name, “Jung Jaehyun”....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I suck at ending chapters, but I tried!! Sorry about it though! Well you reached the end of the chapter!! This part was comparitively longer than my other chapters, and I tried to put in a Yuwin’s backstory! Also, Jaeyong are flirting I LOVE THEM!! Comments are appreciated so please do leave something!! And if you like it, leave a kudos too maybe?? That would be nice! Thank you! And yeah I’m having exams so idk when I’ll be able to upload again so please do wait and don’t ditch my fic!! K thanks see yall later bye!! Talk to me on twt (@myjiaer_) !!!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Helloooo I’m back!! Sorry for the wait, I have exams and I’ve been rlly rlly REALLY busy... soooo anyway back to this... this chapter is a little emo, and has a lot of Jaeyong and some Yuwin too... it took me some time to write this because I was a little confused about what to do but its finally here! Hope you enjoy it!!
> 
> Also, I’m gonna be having exams from Friday till 18th March (yeah its huge... sucks right??) so I’m not gonna be able to update.... sorry for the wait... but I promise to be back after that with an update!! If I can, then I’ll try to find some time and update in the first week of March as well (NO PROMISES THOUGH CUZ ITS GONNA BE SMACK DAB IN BETWEEN MY EXAMS!) Now enough of my ranting.... go read the chapter!!!

As Taeyong left the room, Yuta looked towards Sicheng, who was still resting his head on his shoulder, and had his arms around the former’s waist. He smiled and moved his bangs from his forehead. Then, placing a chaste kiss on his forehead, he softly lay Sicheng down on the couch, and tried to leave the room, but Sicheng held him firmly by the arm of his sweater. 

“Hey, Baby do you want something??” Yuta’s voice was laced with so much love and adoration that Sicheng couldnt do anything but melt. 

“Don’t Go...” 

“I’m not going anywhere. I’m just going back to my room to finish the work I was doing baby. If you want me to stay with you, then I’ll just get my laptop here and work beside you.”

At Yuta’s words, Sicheng sat up. 

“No... you go inside... I should probably go too...we have that assignment due next week… I should start working on it...”, Sicheng tried to stand up but Yuta held him down firmly. 

“I already did your assignment.”

.....

“WHAT.”

“I already did your assignment.” Yuta told Sicheng with a big smile on his face and god, Sicheng swears that his breath hitched. Throughout their relationship, Yuta had always been the dominant one, asking him out, planning all the dates, being the big spoon, showering him with all the love and affection he had. Sicheng had always been on the receiving end of it, and Sicheng always told himself that he should do more for Yuta, because that boy gave him his everything but at that moment, Sicheng didn’t know what to say… that boy in front of him had practically groomed him for the society when he came to Korea, from teaching him the language, to accompanying him everywhere and although his main intentions were to make Sicheng fall for him, Sicheng was glad he had Yuta, because without him, Sicheng didn’t know where he would be today. And now he had also done his assignment?? Why?? Because Sicheng was tired and because he’d been bullied by a bunch of nobodys?? Sicheng felt a mix of emotions all boiling in him, inside him a voice said “look how amazing your boyfriend is” while another said “how can you let him do this… do you have no responsibility?” and at that moment, all he could do was stare at his boyfriend, who was still looking back at him with that blinding smile, his black locks falling on his face and him staring back at Sicheng with a pair of eyes that had so much love, Sicheng couldn’t even begin to describe it. There were so many things he wanted to say at that time but all he could say was a simple “Why?”

“Look, Sicheng I know you hate people doing your work for you. But I’m not people. I’m Yuta, your boyfriend. And you looked so tired, so done for the day, I just didn’t have the heart to wake you up and I just couldn’t bear the thought of you staying up at night and completing your assignment ypu know I’d never do anything to hurt you I just——“

Before Yuta could finish, Sicheng decided to shut him up by pulling him by the collar and kissing him. He pulled Yuta on top of himself and connected their lips in a rough, yet very intimate way. After all, Yuta himself was the kind of guy who looked so rough and intimidating outside, but inside he was very soft and loving and could make literally ANYONE fall in love with him. But Sicheng was never jealous. Sure Yuta had a lot of people crushing and swooning over him, he was, after all, the star player and captain of the football team. But he only had eyes for Sicheng, and the whole university knew it. They knew they never stood a chance, because Yuta would NEVER cheat on Sicheng, and he would never spare any of the other boys or girls a second look. 

Their kiss was nothing special. It was just the two of them, lazing around, making out with each other, feeling each other’s presence around. Yuta deeped the kiss, biting Sicheng’s bottom lip, asking for entrance which the latter gladly gave. Yuta’s hands wrapped themselves around Sicheng’s waist, pulling him impossibly closer, while one of Sicheng’s hand was on the nape of Yuta’s neck while the other was softly caressing his cheek. At last, the separated, because it was getting difficult to breathe. 

But even after separating, Yuta didnt let go of Sicheng. Instead, he started giving Sicheng little pecks all over his face, before going over to his neck and collarbones, knowing well that Sicheng loved it when he did that. 

Sicheng squirmed under his touch, small giggles and sighs leaving his mouth, letting Yuta know that he truly was loving it. After a while, Sicheng asked him to stop. 

“Okay enough, Yuta. It’s getting late, we should probably start preparing dinner.”

“Don’t worry about it, you go take rest, I’ll just make you some Chinese food.” Yuta said, as he got up from their previous position and started making his way to the kitchen. 

“No, don’t make me Chinese food. Make me some Japanese food, Mr. Osaka Prince.” Sicheng wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. 

Yuta stopped in his tracks and turned back to look at Sicheng. 

“But you don’t like Japanese food!!”

“So what?? I love Japanese men.. that should be enough, right??” Sicheng had a nonchalant yet very naughty expression on his face and Yuta knew that this expression meant that he was in a mood to flirt. But well.... who was he to say no??

“Oh really??” Yuta had a dangerous smirk on his face as he walked back and stood between Sicheng’s legs while the latter was sitting, in such a way that Sicheng’s face came upto his chest. 

Then, cupping Sicheng’s face with his hands, he seductively whispered into his ears...

“How many Japanese men do you love huh, Mr. Dong?? I’m gonna need an exact number.”

“Well let’s see.. there’s my boyfriend, there is the captain of our university football team and there is this psychology major in our university so as of now there are three japanese men that i love...” Sicheng’s smile widened and had now turned into something more cute and pure and Yuta couldnt help but coo at him...

“Hmmm...” Yuta pretended to think... “You turned out to be a bigger hoe than you look Mr Dong...”  
Yuta had a big smirk on his face, and he held Sicheng’s face with one hand while he caressed his cheek with the other...

“So, are you gonna punish me or what?” Sicheng held Yuta’s wrists with his hand and looked up to meet his eyes. 

“I dont know, depends on what you want.”

“I just want to be fed and then get attacked by cuddles.”

“Your wish is my command.” 

Yuta booped Sicheng’s nose and then went to make dinner for the both of them, while Sicheng sat there thinking how he got this lucky...

 

As Taeyong left Yuta and Sicheng’s room and made way to his own, he couldn’t help but play Yuta and Sicheng’s words in his mind... about how Sicheng and Yuta had things just work out for them and Taeyong would be lying if he said he didn’t want something like that. He’d been single for too damn long, and although he enjoyed his life without a boyfriend, he wanted someone who would pamper him, cook for him, give him cuddles and be there for him when he needed him to. Sure, he had his friends, but they were all in relationships now... and as much as they always told him that he could call them anytime, he hated to intrude on their personal times with their boyfriends. His best friends Ten and Yuta sure had the most understanding and supportive boyfriends and Taeyong was glad that Johnny and Sicheng were not the “I don’t like how much time you spend with Taeyong” type... in fact, they both adored him and they were all pretty good friends by now... but still Taeyong felt a pang of guilt go through him everytime he called them up for help. 

And at this point, Taeyong didn’t know what he wanted... maybe he wanted to be single, maybe this sudden want for a relationship was just a phase, and it would soon wear off. Taeyong decided to distract himself from all these thoughts and kept telling himself that he was fine, and that he would figure it all out soon. But deep inside him, he knew that Jung Jaehyun was not a phase. Deep inside him, Taeyong knew that he had started developing something for that young boy?? What or why... he didnt know... maybe it was for the way he talked that did things to Taeyong’s heart?? Or maybe it was the way he smiled that made Taeyong want to give the whole world to him... Taeyong didn’t know. All he knew was that all this time he had been hiding behind his curtain of “I only like men with fancy accents...” and now when Jung Jaehyun entered his life with his fancy accent and his 1001 other qualities, Taeyong knew that the curtain had started falling, and very soon he would be exposed, and wouldn’t be able to control the growing feelings he had for the boy.... Taeyong had slowly started to fall in a deep abyss by the name of Jung Jaehyun....

Thinking of all this, Taeyong finally reached his dorm room and he stepped inside. Today had been a really eventful day and although he hadn’t done too much, Taeyong was exhausted. He just wanted to envelop himself with the warm blankets of his bed and sleep... and he was all prepared to do it when he heard little sniffs coming from the corner of the room. 

Taeyong went closer and closer, till he found the source of the noise. And saying he was surprised would be an understatement. He saw Jaehyun sitting on the ground, hugging his knees and in between there was something that looked like a photograph. It’s sides were folded, and it was taken with a very old camera. Taeyong could guess that it was atleast ten years old.... but he didn’t know what to do or how to approach him...

Taeyong was not good with feelings... sure he could sympathise with people, offer them a couple of words of consolation but that was it. Generally when he saw people crying he would just leave them alone... but something about Jaehyun sitting there and crying alone made Taeyong’s heart hurt and suddenly he saw himself walking towards Jaehyun who had his back towards him, and putting a hand on his shoulder.

Jaehyun was startled, and he quickly wiped his tears and looked up. Then, forcing a smile on his face, he spoke...

“Oh Taeyong Hyung! Sorry didn’t see you... have you been here for a very long time?? Did I disturb your sleep?? I’m so sorry I didn’t mean t——“

Before he could finish, Taeyong shushed him by putting a finger on his lips. Then, he slowly crouched down, brought his hand up, and wrapped it around Jaehyun’s neck. Then, he brought Jaehyun’s face to his chest, and allowed him to rest his head on his shoulder. 

“Jaehyunnie.... it’s not okay to keep everything bottled up like this... if something is going on, just let it out... you’ll feel so much better. Don’t stop your tears because you are afraid that people around will see it... its okay just... let it all out....”

Taeyong must have hit the right chords with his words, because soon he could feel Jaehyun wrapping both his arms around Taeyong’s torso and crying into his red t shirt. Taeyong didn’t say anything. He just wrapped his other arm around Jaehyun’s waist and allowed him to cry. Taeyong wasn’t good with words, so the least he could to was offer a *LITERAL* shoulder to cry on, right??

Taeyong didn’t know for how long they were sitting there... all he did was hold Jaehyun close and listen to the little sobs and sniffles that came out of him... he didn’t say anything, just once in a while he hugged Jaehyun a little tighter, to let him know that he was there for him....

It seemed like a long time before Jaehyun finally stopped crying. He lift his face up from Taeyong’s shoulder and looked at the latter. And when Taeyong saw him, his breath hitched. Jaehyun was a mess... his hair was everywhere, his eyes were red from too much crying and his lips were all chapped. And somehow even through all this, Jaehyun looked breathtaking... Taeyong had a wave of emotions fly through him all at the same time, and this was something he had never experienced before. But through all his emotions there rang the same message... “He hated to see Jung Jaehyun cry... and he would do anything to stop that from hapenning...”

Taeyong didn’t know what he was thinking, and before he knew it, a single tear made its way from Taeyong’s eye to the bottom of his face. Jaehyun seemed to have noticed this, because he furrowed his eyebrows and looked at Taeyong..

“Hyung why are you crying?? Is it because of something I did... I’m so sorry hyung I shouldn’t have——“

“I hate seeing you cry Jaehyunnie...”

Taeyong had whispered these words slowly, and Jaehyun wouldn’t have heard them if they were pressed against each other. His words were soft and meaningful and from his voice, Jaehyun could understand and Taeyong meant every syllable he uttered. And at that moment, there were not one, but two hearts in the room that skipped a beat...

Taeyong and Jaehyun just sat there, quietly, not moving, not speaking, breathing as inaudibly as they could. It was Jaehyun who broke the awkward silence. He moved a little, and wiped the remaining tears from his face before getting up from the ground. Then, he put his hand forward and helped Taeyong up. 

Afterwards, they both made their way towards their respective beds. Jaehyun was going to lie down, when Taeyong’s voice made him turn around and face the elder. 

“If you want to talk about it, I’m always here. I won’t force you, because I don’t know what it is about and I don’t want to poke my nose but if you ever need someone to talk to, you can always come to me Jaehyunnie....” Taeyong looked up towards Jaehyun and smiled at him. 

The moment they made eye contact, Jaehyun fidgeted a little before looking at the ground. He started unconsciously biting his lips while playing with his fingers. 

“It’s been a long day for you Jaehyun... go to sleep... you can clear your head in the morning... good night.”

Taeyong was going to lie down on the bed when the younger called him..

“Taeyong Hyung.”

“Yeah??”

“Jaehyun fidgeted a little more before talking a few more steps till he was standing at the foot of Taeyong’s bed. Taeyong immediately understood what the younger was trying to say and scooted over to one corner of the bed to make some space for him to sit. Jaehyun sat down beside Taeyong. 

It took him a few more minutes to start talking, but Taeyong waited patiently. At last Jaehyun started talking...

The younger handed Taeyong the photograph he was holding when Taeyong found him earlier. It was old, fifteen to be precise, and had the date “14th February 2004” inscribed in one corner. The photograph was of a young boy sitting on the lap of an old man, a little plush toy in his hand, and a smile on his face. 

“That was my grandfather, this was taken on my seventh birthday. It was also the last birthday I spent with him before he left me for a happier place....” Jaehyun sniffled. 

Taeyong didn’t say anything... he just put his hand on Jaehyun’s shoulder to let him know that he was listening, and encouraged the younger to go on...

Jaehyun then started talking about his grandfather, and how he had practically brought him up since both his parents used to work. He reminisced all the old memories he had made with his grandfather, going for walks in the evening, the funny acronyms he made while trying to get Jaehyun to study, special lunch every Sunday, and what not.... and Taeyong sat and listened to it all... he smiled with Jaehyun at the fond memories he had shared with his grandfather and through his words, Taeyong almost felt that he was there with Jaehyun, experiencing it in person...

“I was seven when he left me, and I had nobody at that time to count on. My grandmother tried her best to take care of me, but through the pain of losing my grandfather and the constant arguments between my parents, I just got lost somehow.... I have never been able to recover from the pain of losing him... and I don’t know how one truly does recover from such mental pain...”

Taeyong was terrible at giving people advice... or saying stuff.... whenever any of his friends had something sad take place in their life, he used to be at their doorstep with a pint of their favourite ice cream, and all he did was tell his friends that it would all be okay and he was there for him. But something about Jaehyun made him forget everything and before he could comprehend, the words had left his mouth...

“You don’t..... But one day you wake up and you realise that you don’t mind carrying it along with you...” Taeyong gave Jaehyun a small smile. 

Where Taeyong got such confidence from, or how he uttered these words, or how that even came to him... he didnt know... all he could care about was trying to uplift Jaehyun’s mood...

Jaehyun looked down, and softly smiled. Then looking up at Taeyong, he said “Thank You Hyung..”

“I’m glad you could open up to me Jaehyunnie. I promise to be there for you whenever I can.”

“And I promise to try and help you in whatever way I can hyung. I’ll try to be the dongsaeng you can trust.”

“Good Night Hyung.” Jaehyun softly kissed Taeyong’s cheek before moving from Taeyong’s bed and going back to his own. Then, smiling at Taeyong, he switched off the lights. And the last thing Jaehyun saw was Taeyong smiling back at him, before he turned off the lights and the room went dark. 

As both Jaehyun and Taeyong lay in their beds, they thought about what happened between them... Taeyong was lowkey glad that Jaehyun turned off the lights because he knew that he was as red as a tomato after Jaehyun pecked his cheek. And as for Jaehyun.. he couldnt believe what he had just done.. DID HE REALLY PECK TAEYONG ON HIS CHEEK???? Jaehyun’s cheeks heat up and ears turned red at the thought... 

Neither of them knew what it meant... was it just one roommate to another or was it something more?? Was it something just between friends or did they have something else... something more special. They didn’t know. But that night, both Jaehyun and Taeyong knew that they felt something for one another.... they didnt put a name on this feeling... maybe they weren’t sure, or maybe they were scared... who knows?? But as their hearts beat louder than ever that night, they both knew that they were in for a ride....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IF YOU’RE READING THIS THEN YOU’VE PROBABLY FINISHED THE CHAPTER.... WELL... HOW WAS IT?? If you liked it then leave a comment/kudos and if you didn’t then you can always give me some constructive criticism on my twitter/cc.... they are linked below! Thank You for reading!!!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry there isn’t any Jaeyong in this chapter… but I have a bit of the story planned ahead and this part is essential! There is Yuwin however, and I hope you enjoy it!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one’s a little rushed because as I said… I’m having exams rn… but I still hope you like it!! It might seem a little cliché but I swear it’s gonna get better in the upcoming chapters! Once again, sorry for the typos! Now enough of my rambling... let’s move on to the real stuff!!

Monday rolled in soon and Taeyong was back to waking up at 8:00 am with his alarm blaring a loud noise. For any normal person, waking up to that noise would mean a headache for the rest of the day, but Taeyong, being the deep sleeper he was knew that that was the only sound that would wake him up. 

Turning his alarm off, he sat up on the bed and rubbed his eyes. It was Monday which meant that he had a shit ton of classes today. Along with that, he had an after class meeting with the student council... sure Taeyong liked being the Student Council president... it meant that he had a say in a lot of matters going on in his college, and he would get away easily when he was late to class, or didn’t turn up one day... but alongside the pros, it also had its cons. And the fact that the meetings took place on Mondays, when he had the most hectic schedule was one of them. 

As Taeyong sat on his bed and played out his schedules for the day, he noticed that Jaehyun wasn’t in his bed. As a matter of fact, he wasn’t even in the room. The only other human in the room besides Taeyong was Chenle, and he had rolled himself up into a tiny little burrito among his fluffy blankets and was fast asleep. 

Taeyong looked and Chenle and smiled softly. He looked so adorable wrapped up in those blankets, fast asleep, with a tuft of blonde hair peeking out of the top of the blanket. Taeyong knoew that Chenle only had afternoon classes on Mondays, so he didn’t wake him up. He just slowly went to his bed and stroked his hair a little, while looking at him fondly. Taeyong had a very soft spot for that kid... but then again... who didn’t?? 

Chenle stirred in his sleep… Taeyong knew it was best to leave the child alone, because he hardly got any sleep due to his classes, assignments and activities. Giving one final stroke to his head, Taeyong walked away and started getting ready for his classes. But even through all of that… he couldnt help but wonder where Jaehyun went that early in the morning. It was his first day right?? Wouldn’t he need someone to show him around?? Taeyong thought that maybe he would offer showing Jaehyun around their campus, as the president of the Student Council. This way, he would get a little more time to spend with him. They were already roommates and Taeyong knew that they would have ample time to spend with the younger… but somehow Taeyong wanted to utilise every chance he got to spend more time with him. Jaehyun made his heart race and his adrenaline rush. What were his exact feelings?? He didn’t know… or maybe he did and he didn’t want to jinx it. But the only thing he was sure of was that he wanted to spend as much time with Jaehyun as he could. 

Taeyong was broken out of his trance when he heard a series of texts coming into his phone, one after the other. Looking at the lack of time in between the texts, Taeyong knew that there was only one person who could be sending him these…

“Chittaphon Ten Leechayapornkul I swear to fucking god....” Taeyong muttered to himself. Then he walked upto his phone and as sure as he was, saw a series of messages from Ten, saying that he wouldn’t be attending his morning classes that day, so Taeyong need not get him coffee or wait for him, followed by a string of sad faces and crying emojis and apologies.

“What a little drama queen... can’t believe he’s my best friend...” Taeyong rolled his eyes and though to himself. Then, he kept his phone back down, and went back to get ready, but not before replying to Ten with a series of “its okay Tennie” and “See you at the student council meeting today”. 

//

If he was being honest, Sicheng hated walking to university alone. Sure, his and Yuta’s dormroom was roughly eight minutes away from campus, but to someone like Sicheng.. eight minutes with no company was near death. He loved talking to people, asking them about random stuff, and basically just any sort of interaction. But today, owing to Yuta’s early morning football practice, Sicheng was left to walk all alone. 

“Stupid football practice..” Sicheng muttered under his breath. He knew how much Yuta loved football and tried to be as supportive as possible with Yuta’s random practices and rough schedules but there were times when Sicheng wished that Yuta wouldn’t concentrate so much on football and actually give some time to himself.

Thinking about random things, and humming a soft tune, Sicheng reached the university campus. It was unsurprisingly packed with people, all walking their own ways, not bothering with what was hapenning around them. In one corner, Sicheng saw Mark and Donghyuck, their two friends, who were both music majors. They’d been best friends for years now, and they called each other their soulmates, and Sicheng and the rest of their gang were just waiting for a time when one of them would crack and confess their love for the other. This mutual pining was getting really tiring. 

On the other corner, Sicheng saw Taehyung and Jeongguk. They were both leaning against a tall tree and Jeongguk had one of his hands casually resting on Taehyung’s ass while the other one was on the latter’s waist, holding him tight. Taehyung had both his hands wrapped around Jeongguk’s neck and was caressing the hair softly. Jeongguk was whispering something into Taehyung’s ear while the other one was just listening to it, laughing a little here and there, and then hiding his face in his boyfriend’s chest as Jeongguk pulled him impossibly closer and hugged him tight, running his finger’s through Taehyung’s hair. 

For anyone, looking at so much pda early on a Monday morning would probably result in them feeling annoyed... but for Sicheng that wasn’t the case. He loved affection and he loved the attention people gave him. And Yuta knew it. Which is why he never shyed away from pulling Sicheng closer, or giving him a kiss whether they were in public or not. And sure, Sicheng got embarrassed sometimes but secretly, he loved it. And Yuta didn’t care about where they were, because in his words, “I don’t need a particular date, time or place to praise my perfect boyfriend. I’m going to do it whenever and however I wish to.”

Mind full of thoughts, Sicheng reached his locker. There, he put his bag down and opened his locker to take out the books he needed for his morning classes. Then, as he turned around to leave, he felt a strong force push him back and hold him firmly by his shoulders. And the worst part, the person holding him down wasn’t Yuta, or any of his friends. 

It was Lee Kwangjoon and his friends gang... aka the same people who had bullied Sicheng the previous week. 

Kwangjoon and his friends were well known all over the university for all the wrong reasons. They were notorious for skipping classes, not submitting their assignments on time and harassing every soul they ever laid their eyes upon. As for Sicheng, they’d never really bothered him before, because they knew that harassing the student council president’s best friend and the football team captain’s boyfriend was probably not the smartest thing to do. They’d tried to harrass Ten once before though, locked him up inside the dance studio one evening and then turned off the lights. But again, messing with Johnny’s boyfriend wasnt their best decision. Johnny had found out about their prank because he had come to give some food to Ten, and had opened the door to find Ten almost unconscious and shivering. He had wrapped Ten around himself and taken him home, but not before delivering a couple of strong punches on the jaws of Kwangjoon and his friends. 

After that “jaw dropping” experience... Kwangjoon had made his best attempts at staying away from their friendgroup and had moved on to harrass other people. Taeyong had often tried to warn them of dire consequences if they didn’t stop, but they paid no attention. And Taeyong, although the student council president, had no power when it actually came to getting students punished or expelled. All he could do was take the matter to the authorities, and they would then talk to the students who were getting harrassed. But those students were all too scared of Kwangjoon to ever say a word against him so all of Taeyong’s efforts in trying to get him punished had been futile. 

But looks like he hadn’t quite given up on his bad habits. At that moment, he was holding Sicheng down by his shoulders, back pressed against the cold metal of the lockers and towering over him as if Sicheng was some sort of prey. 

Sicheng won’t lie, he was scared. He was scared out of his wits. He didn’t know what to do... he wanted to scream but at the same time didnt want all the attention to be on him. After all, the other students would only stare at him… nobody in the university had the actual balls to stand up against Lee Kwangjoon early in the morning. 

Sicheng remembered the hapennings from Friday. How Kwangjoon and his friends had tried to harrass him. They weren’t sexually assaulting him, but they wanted him for other favours... favours Sicheng didn’t want to do for them. Sicheng was mentally praying that someone would find them.... he hated being this weak and unable to do anything...

“Hey Sicheng...” Kwangjoon called out. 

Sicheng winced. He hated that disgusting voice of his. 

“Leave me alone Kwangjoon.” Sicheng deadpanned. 

“Oh come on Sicheng… I’m not trying to get into your pants or something… although I’m sure that’d be a great experience…” Kwangjoon winked and tried to put his hand on Sicheng’s ass but Sicheng was quick to push it away. 

“Oh getting defensive now are we?? Anyway I’m sure Yuta wouldn’t like me touching something that’s his so I’m just going to get it straight with you…”

“Kwangjoon I am not going to give you my assignment notes.” 

“Whats your damn problem Sicheng… if it’d been someone else then by now they’d probably have tried to sexually assault you to get what they want… I’m being a gentleman and nicely asking you for help… why you gotta be a goody two shoes huh...?”

“Listen Kwangjoon… I worked for two months on that assignment and it took me a really long time to get everything right… I’m not going to just give you my assignments because you are the local bully... and another thing… stay away from me you disgusting creature!! I dont know about the others but if you try to come near me one more time then I swear to god I’m going to go the authorities and complain and trust me... I am NOT scared of you or your threats…”

To say that Kwangjoon was furious would be an understatement. In all his life nobody had even dared to raise his voice at him and here was a boy who was threatening to take him to the authorities?? The fucking audacity...

“Listen here you little whore...” Kwangjoon held both of Sicheng’s wrists and pinned them behind him and then whispered into his ear...

“I have been nice enough with you and it’s clearly not working... so looks like I’m going to have to use the non ethical way to get what I want from you....”

“Kwangjoon leave me the fuck alone it hurts. Leave my hands write now or else...”

“Or else what sweetie?? You’re gonna scream?? Gonna call your student council president best friend?? Or are you gonna call good for nothing captain boyfriend of yours??”

“How dare you say a word against Yuta!! I swear to god Kwangjoon leave me or else I’m going to break your fucking nose you pathetic loser...”

“Awh... is Sicheng angry because I said something about his boyfriend??”

Sicheng was getting very uncomfortable and he almost had tears in his eyes. He wanted to cry out but didnt want to look weak in front of the whole university. Everyone knew him as the topper of the Psychology department and the football captain’s boyfriend. He didnt want the university to see how weak and helpless he truly was and how he couldn’t even save himself from a simple bully. He hated seeing himself like this and felt ashamed of himself. 

Kwangjoon held his hands tighter and twisted it. Sicheng yelped in pain. Kwangjoon was about to say something to Sicheng, who had his head low when they were both distracted by a voice that came from behind Kwangjoon. 

“Hey!! What are you doing??? Leave him alone!!”

Both Kwangjoon ans Sicheng looked up to see a boy clad in a yellow shirt and ripped blue jeans. His fluffy brown hair fell on his face and the sunlight reflected off him as if he was some sort of gem. He had a backpack slung over his left shoulder and was looking and the two of them with a very displeased expression. 

“Who the fuck are you??” Kwangjoon almost yelled. 

“How is knowing who I am gonna help you?? Leave the boy right now or else it won’t be good for you!!”

“Oh you think you’re so smart, huh kid?? What are you gonna do if I don’t leave him?? Go back home and cry to your mommy about it??”

Kwangjoon said this and began to laugh. But before he could process whats hapenning, he felt a strong punch to his jaw. It was so sudden that Kwangjoon didn’t get any time to process it and before he knew it, he was on the ground with a broken jaw, with a furious kid, and a shocked Sicheng looking down at him.

By this time, a small crowd of people had gathered around them, and all of them had witnessed the other boy punch Kwangjoon. Kwangjoon knew that news was going to spread fast, and that Yuta would here of this soon and then he’d come for him, but right now he had other things to worry about and one of those things was a random ass dude hovering over him with a very angry and intimidating expression on his face. 

“If I see you bullying anyone else, then I swear to god I am not going to stop at a single punch. Now leave before I lose my temper and you lose any functioning muscles in your body!!”

To say Kwangjoon was shocked would be an understatement. He had never had anyone talk to him like this, and the only other person to come punch him like this was Johnny, when he had tried to harrass Ten. And this guy sure as hell wasn’t Yuta so... who even was he?? Kwangjoon decided not to dwell upon this any further. The guy looked like he was ready to beat Kwangjoon into a pulp and Kwangjoon didn’t want that hapenning… alteast not in the middle of the university. 

“I’ll make sure you pay for this, pretty boy” Kwangjoon thought to himself, as he got up and walked away. His group of friends who had been watching the whole thing throughout... with very shocked expressions on their faces, walked behind him. 

All this had become a little too much for Sicheng. He was still trying to process what happened when the other boy came back to him. 

“Hey... are you okay??” The boy enquired. 

“Uhh Yeah… I’m fine, just a little in shock… umm thank you for uhm... saving me. I really don’t know what would’ve happened if you weren’t there.” Sicheng said, as he absentmindedly stroked his wrists which were now red due to the pressure that Kwangjoon had applied to them. 

“Hey, are your wrists okay?? They look really red… do you need to go to the first aid room??” 

“No no… it’ll be alright. My boyfriend is the captain of the football team in the university so he always carried stuff like medicines and ice packs around with him. I’ll just go put some ice. Don’t worry about me. And thank you again.”

“Don’t mention it. I’m glad I could help. I have just transferred here and today is actually my first day. So I was a little shocked to see nobody around trying to help you. But anyway I’m just happy you’re okay. See you around then??” 

The boy smiled and Sicheng and it was then that Sicheng noticed that the boy had very prominent dimples on both his cheeks. He looked like he was the son of some CEO, right out of a kdrama. 

The boy began to walk away, but Sicheng called out to him. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t catch your name!”

The boy turned around. 

“Jaehyun. My name is Jung Yoonoh, but you can call me Jaehyun. I’m a business major.” The boy smiled once again. 

“Jaehyun?? Why does the name sound so familiar??” Sicheng thought to himself. “He said today is his first day… but then why does it seem like I’ve heard of him??” Sicheng felt a thousand thoughts flooding his brain, but he decided to ponder later, and looked back at Jaehyun with a smile. 

“Nice to meet you Jaehyun. My name is Sicheng, and I hope we see more of each other soon!”

Sicheng and Jaehyun both smiled at each other and walked their own ways. Jaehyun walked towards the Dean’s office, presumably to get a copy of his weekly schedule and other university stuff, while Sicheng realised that by now Yuta wouldve found out about what had happened near the lockers, so he decided to pay Yuta a visit at the football field. 

Sicheng turned around to go towards the field, when he suddenly saw Yuta running towards him. He was still clad in is red football gear, his hair sticking to his forehead, a very worried expression on his face. Yuta looked fucking hot if Sicheng was being honest, and Sicheng felt a big smile form on his face the moment his boyfriend’s form came into his view. 

Yuta ran towards Sicheng and wrapped his arms around the lattter’s waist. He hugged him tightly and rested his chin on the crown of Sicheng’s head. He could feel Sicheng wrap his arms around his back as he buried his head into Yuta’s chest. 

They stayed like that for sometime before they finally let go. Yuta took Sicheng’s face in his hands and gently caressed his cheeks. Then, he planted a soft kiss on Sicheng’s forehead. 

“Oh my god Sicheng are you okay? I heard what happened… oh my god show me your hands…”

“Before Sicheng could say anything, Yuta took both of Sicheng’s hands in his and started caressing his wrists which had now become quite a prominent shade of red. 

Yuta’s expression was quite unreadable but since Sicheng had known him for quite a while, he could understand exacly what he was thinking. Yuta’s face was a mix of worry and anger… somewhere in between “I’m gonna throw the bastard who did this to you off the terrace” and “I’m so sorry for leaving you alone baby I promise I’ll never do that again.”

“It was Kwangjoon wasn’t it??” Yuta growled. 

“That bastard doesnt learn at all… just wait till I see him again I swear to fucking Jesus I am going to break each one of his bones how fucking dare he even touch you that—“

“Yuta, stop.” Sicheng’s voice was soft, and reassuring. He slowly caressed Yuta’s ear and Yuta found himself leaning into his touch. Sicheng wrapped his arms around Yuta’s shoulders and caressed the hair at the nape of Yuta’s neck. He buried his head in Yuta’s chest and left soft fleeting kisses on the older’s collarbones. Sicheng could hear Yuta hum softly, which meant that he was calming down. Sicheng heaved a sigh of relief. 

After a while Sicheng got up. He looked up. at Yuta. 

“Babe, don’t waste your time and energy. Kwangjoon is really not worth it. Plus... on the bright side... I’M OKAY!! Kwangjoon was going to attack me but then this other boy came and saved me!!”

Yuta was confused. 

“Other boy?? Who??”

“He left right before you arrived. He said he was new and today was his first day. He’s a business major and he said that his name was Jung Yoonoh but people called him Jaehyun!”

“....Jaehyun??”

“I know... that name sounds so familiar... he’s new but I can’t help but think that I’ve heard his name somewhere!! But I can’t place where!!”

“Uh, Sicheng, aren’t you forgetting something?”

“What??”

“Isn’t Jaehyun the name of Taeyong’s accent man?? Like, his new roommate who he’s very clearly crushing on??”

“OH MY GOD!!!! Now that you mention it, it did seem like his Korean was a little accented!!”

It was then, that everything fell into place. Jaehyun was new, he was Taeyong’s new roommate and crush, and the same person who had saved Sicheng and punched Kwangjoon. 

“Out of all the people in the world, I can’t believe that Taeyong’s crush was the man who saved you,” Yuta laughed. 

“Small world huh?”

“Yeah... but anyway let’s go… we have Cognitive Psychology in the first period... don’t wanna be late for that one!!”

“Yeah, let’s go!!”

Yuta took Sicheng’s hand and they both made their way to their class. And Yuta made a mental note of conveying his thanks to Jaehyun personally during their break, and also to let Taeyong know that he approved of Jaehyun and Taeyong was free to pursue him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo how was it??? Hopefully y’all liked it. Comments, Kudos and Criticisms are more than welcome!!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaehyun meets the rest of the gang

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah I’m quite late this time but my exams just ended and I have another set coming soon so I was resting and shit and now I gotta get back to studying so updates might be slow again so sorry about that :/// but hope you enjoy this chapter!!!

Taeyong reached his class about ten minutes before time. He saw that a few students were already sitting, doing their own work. A couple of them looked up and waved to him. Taeyong smiled and waved back to them. They weren’t exactly friends… but more like acquaintances. Being the student council president meant that he had to be friendly with everyone and keep healthy relations with everyone and he never minded that. After all, he was kind and friendly by nature. He looked amongst the students and to his relief, he saw that his friend Kun had already come to class and was scribbling something in his book. Taeyong went and sat beside him, and put his arm around the latter’s shoulder. 

“What’s up Tae, I’m busy.”

“Shut up Kun, studying doesn’t count.”

“You’re the student council president, obviously you won’t get scolded by anyone if you fail a test!!”

“And as the student body president, I command you to stop studying and listen to me.”

Kun huffed as he put his book and pencil down. He knew it was no use to argue with Taeyong. He was too stuborn. 

“Yes Tae... tell me.”

“So… you know how Chenle and I don’t have a third roommate, right??”

“Taeyong, Chenle is my son, I spend literally ALL my free time in your room, and this is what you ask me??”

“Firstly, Chenle is not your son, and secondly, shut up you kunt, let me finish.”

“Firstly, Chenle IS my son, and secondly, call me that one more time and I’ll throw you off the terrace.”

“Okay okay fine let me atleast finish. So on Saturday, we got our new dorm mate. And Kun you won’t believe me... he——“

“Is from Connecticut, has a dreamy accent, beautiful dimples, well build body, and is basically the love of your life??”

“Kun what the fuck how did you even——“

“Taeyong honey, by now you should’ve realised the consequences of having a best friend like Ten...” Kun simply shrugged. 

“That little shit!! I swear to god I’m gonna——“ Taeyong was getting ready to make a list of stuff he was going to do to Ten when Kun cut him off. 

“Okay okay I don’t care about all that... tell me about what was his name again... Jaehyung??”

“It’s Jaehyun, Kun.” 

“Ah right… Jaehyun. So... what’s with him, huh?” Kun moved his eyebrows suggestively. 

“I’m pretty sure Ten’s already told you everything. There’s nothing new to say.”

“Yeah, yeah Ten’s told me a lot but you know how he says stuff, right?? In a hurry, not finishing one part before jumping onto the next, and everything…”

Taeyong nodded. It was typical of Ten to exhibit such impatient behaviour. 

“Taeyong tell me the full story about Jaehyun and what you feel… you know I’m a better advice giver than Yuta and Ten combined. 

Taeyong had no choice but to agree to that statement. Kun was definitely one of his wisest and smartest friends. 

So Taeyong sat there for the next ten minutes and told him everything about Jaehyun, how they met, what all they spoke about, what went on in Taeyong’s head whenever he listened to Jaehyun talking, etc etc. He spoke more passionately during some parts, like while talking about Jaehyun’s godly accent, while during the other parts, he spoke normally, but with a lot of enthusiasm. Kun listened to him patiently, nodding here and there to let Taeyong know that he still had his attention. Taeyong told him everything about Jaehyun, right uptill the part of what happened with them that evening, the conversation with Jaehyun about his family, and the intimate moment they shared. He knew that on hearing that, Kun was going to give him some very stern advice about his feelings and that advice, although probably true, was not something Taeyong was ready to hear. He was not ready to accept or even acknowledge his feelings.... atleast not YET. So he purposely left that part out. 

Kun listened attentively to everything Taeyong had to say. When he finished, Kun spoke up...

“So that’s it??”

“Yeah.”

“What do you want me to do??”

“I don’t know... give me advice Kun!!”

“Honestly Tae looking at how it’s going now… i say just go with the flow… I know it’s too early to talk about your feelings... you just met the man!! There is a lot in Jaehyun, a lot beyond a good body and a perfect accent, and I’m sure about it. I think you should focus more on building a sturdy relationship with the boy first… you’ll are going to get to spend a lot of time together in the future anyways… so don’t force yourself to develop feelings Taeyong. Take everything slow… if it’s bound to happen, it’ll happen anyways. So don’t even think about getting into a relationship now… there is plenty of time for that in the future… just build a sturdy relationship with the boy.”

Taeyong was listening attentively to whatever Kun was saying. And he felt like that was the best advice. Taeyong was really happy that he had someone like Kun in his life, as one of his closest friends. Having a best friend like Ten was definitely tiring to say the least, and whatever eccentric stuff Ten did, Kun would balance that out with his calmness and patience. They perfectly balanced Taeyong out. 

Taeyong and Kun made some small talk for the rest of the time till their teacher came. After that, they started paying attention in class, because being economics majors, and being on the top of the class was hard. But both Taeyong and Kun made it work. 

//

Jaehyun had woken up early that day. His emotions were a mix of tension and excitement, worry and delight. He was excited for his first day at University, but worried about his classes and teachers. Back in Yale, he had a lot of friends and the teachers were all very fond of him. And why wouldn’t they be?? He had dreamy eyes, killer dimples, and a face sculpted by the gods themselves. Everyone used to call him the “memory manipulator” aka he used to remind everyone of their first love. All the teachers were very fond of him, and students, girls and boys alike fell head over heels in love with him. And along with the perfect face, he also had perfect grades, was good at sports, took part in a lot of co curricular activities and never shyed away from helping others. He was truly everyone’s dream man. But that was back in Yale. This was Korea. The education system was much more strict here, and since he was joining mid semester, he had a lot to catch up on. Living in Connecticut all his life, he was very used to the culture there but Korea was so much more. different. Plus, his Korean accent wasn’t good either. Jaehyun was having a lot of inferiority complex since the morning. He wanted to make a good first impression, and he wanted people to like him. But atleast he had Jeno… he was sure that his little brother would guide him throught the day. Jaehyun muttered a little prayer under his breath and went on to get ready for his much anticipated first day. 

When Jaehyun came out of the washroom after getting ready, he saw Taeyong sleeping soundly on his bed. Their moment from the previous night flashed back in his mind. Taeyong looked so soft and pure, sleeping soundly in his bed, a soft smile playing on his lips and he breathed in and breathed out. Jaehyun looked at him for sometime. He was filled with the sudden urge to run his hands through Taeyong’s hair but he decided against it. Just because they’d shared a close moment meant nothing. For all he knew, Taeyong was kind and understanding my nature, and he was just trying to comfort his roommate. Jaehyun decided not to think much about the situation… he would handle all this later… right now he just wanted to make a good first impression. He shook all the thoughts that were clouding his head and left. 

He planned on going to the university early so that he could meet his Dean and collect his weekly schedule. He was just making his way to the Dean’s office when he saw a cluster of boys in front of him. 

He went closer and he saw that one boy had pinned another boy to the lockers and was trying to harrass him. Behind the boy was a bunch of other boys who were smiling devishly and behind them, a crowd was watching. The boy who was pinned on the wall looked bery weak and helpless and Jaehyun was shocked as to how someone could be so pathetic and heartless and not try to help the boy. So Jaehyun decided to intervene. He raised his voice and tried to get him to stop. But the boy took no heed and laughed at him. 

Jaehyun was generally a calm man. But this time, he lost his temper. He went and gave one strong punch on the man’s jaw. Behind him, he heard the crowd gasp as the man fell on the floor with a thud, wincing in pain. 

“If I see you bullying anyone else, then I swear to god I am not going to stop at a single punch. Now leave before I lose my temper and you lose any functioning muscles in your body!!”

Jaehyun saw the man leave, followed by his minions, after whispering something about Jaehyun having to pay for this later. He looked at the other boy and helped him get up. He learnt that his name was Sicheng. They spoke for a couple of minutes. It wasn’t talking… just mainly Sicheng thanking Jaehyun for his help. Jaehyun and Sicheng went their opposite ways to class. 

“What a kickass start to my first day” Jaehyun thought to himself, as he made his way to the Dean’s office to collect his weekly schedule and list of Teachers. After a brief conversation with the Dean that consisted mainly about him praising Jaehyun about his brilliant and perfect record at Yale, and how he was looking forward to Jaehyun’s results in SNU, Jaehyun thanked him and left for his classes. Thinking about the unfolding of the events of the morning, Jaehyun made his way to his first class of the day and his first class as a student of SNU. 

As Jaehyun entered his class, he looked around for an empty place. He could feel other students staring at him, and it made him even more uncomfortable because he didn’t want to be at the centre of attention. He just wanted to fit. 

Luckily, Jeno entered class just then. Seeing Jaehyun, he called out and waved to him to get his attention. 

“Jaehyun Hyung!”

“Oh Jeno, I was just about to call you!!”

“I know you’re nervous hyung, but don’t worry you have me!! Your first day is going to be great!!”

Jeno then lowered his voice and whispered to Jaehyun. 

“Plus, look how many people you’ve already got mesmerised!” Jeno subtly indicated to the rest of the class, most of the students of whom were staring at Jaehyun with whipped eyes. 

“You’re the memory manipulator hyung… so don’t worry, everything will be fine. You’ll be fine. Everyone will love you. Now come with me, the seat next to me is empty. You will sit with me.”

Jeno dragged Jaehyun to his seat where the two of them sat down and Jeno began to give Jaehyun a brief outline of their teachers. 

Jaehyun listened with rapt attention. He really wanted to make a good impression, and really wanted people to like him. He wanted to be just as popular at Seoul National University as he was at Yale. Not to be cocky or something, but just to give himself the reliance that he was okay. He was doing well. He wanted to be the best and settle for nothing less. 

“Thank God for Jeno” Jaehyun whispered to himself. 

//

First half of the day flew by and Jaehyun soon found himself being pulled out of the class and towards the cafeteria by Jeno. 

“Whoa Jeno wait… why are you pulling me… I’ve never seen you excited about Lunch Time when we were younger what happened to you?”

“Jaehyun Hyung… what is there to not love about Lunch Time… the crowded cafeterias, the loud students, sitting with your friends, people screaming and cussing… all of it is beautiful!!” Jeno said enthusiastically as he threw his hands up in the air and gave his signature eye smile. 

“Your pretty boy is going to be there right??”

Jeno visibly became more panicked. 

“W-what pretty boy hyung i-i don’t know what you are t-talking about l-leave me alone” Jeno tried to storm away but Jaehyun pulled him back and put his arm around his shoulder. 

“What was his name again?? Jae something?? Jaejun? Jaeyong?”

“No hyung… it’s not Jaejun, and Jaeyong will be what you and Taeyong hyung will be called if y’all ever get together. His name is Jaemin. Na Jaemin” Jeno said nonchalantly. 

“JENO WHAT THE FUCK.”

“What?? You’re a business major, he’s an economics major, he’s pretty, cute, likes soft things, is gay like you, AND, has an accent kink! You’re like... EXACTLY HIS TYPE!!” 

“What on earth are you talking about, and the fuck is an accent kink??”

“Taeyong hyung is attracted to people who have an accent, pretty much like you. Basically, he likes boys who don’t talk in the regular korean accent, aka people like you. And yes hyung, I know that it’s too early and you’ve only known Taeyong hyung for a weekend, and he’s just your roommate and shit, but trust me, you guys are very much each other’s type. And when y’all get together, just remember that I called this first. Now if you will excuse me, I have a pretty boy to go talk to!”

Jeno excused himself as he went to one corner of the cafeteria towards a table with a few other people sitting. He went hugged this pink haired boy. He had a beautiful smile plastered on his face and his eyes shone like they had diamonds embedded in them. 

“Na Jaemin” Jaehyun kept repeating to himself. “You better keep my baby brother happy” 

Jaehyun looked around the cafeteria. There were a lot of people, some sitting and eating while otbers just chatting away. Jaehyun hadn’t made any friends yet, so he just decided to go to a small corner table with his food and go through his assignments. Just that morning he had received a long list of assignments that he was due to submit at the end of the month and Jaehyun knew that he had to work extra hard, since he had joined mid year. 

“Jaehyun was just about to sit down with his food and books when he heard someone call his name. 

“Yoonoh!!”

Jaehyun turned around to see the boy from that morning standing there smiling at him. 

“Oh Hey Sicheng nice seeing you again!!”

“You sitting alone??”

“Yeah... got some work to do” Jaehyun smiled sheepishly. 

“Why don’t you come sit with my friends? We’re nice people! Plus, my boyfriend really wants to meet you after you helped me this morning!!”

“Well... okay then!” Jaehyun smiled as he let Sicheng lead the way. 

Sicheng took him to a table with three other boys sitting. Two of them seemed to be together, judging by the way they were holding hands under the table and looking at each other with the most lovestruck eyes. The third boy was looking down, texting someone and if Jaehyun had to guess, he was probably Sicheng’s boyfriend and the captain of the university football team. Sicheng coughed to get their attention!!

“Guys!! Meet Jaehyun!!”

“The other three boys all looked up at once. Jaehyun bowed down to them all. 

“Hello my name is Jaehyun, nice to meet you.”

The boy on the left was the first to speak up.

“Oh, so you are Taeyong’s Jaehyun??”

“I’m sorry... WHAT?”

“You are Lee Taeyong’s roommate Jung Jaehyun, right?”

“Uh yeah I’m Lee Taeyong and Zhong Chenle’s roommate!!”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Ten, Taeyong’s best friend!”

Ten put his hand out to shake it with Jaehyun’s who complied. 

“Nice to meet you. But how did you know that I was Taeyong’s roommate??”

“Your name was there on the roommates chart on the floor of your dormroom. You said your name and I figured you must be the one” Ten smiled. 

“Oh...” Jaehyun won’t lie... he was hoping that maybe Taeyong had told his friends about Jaehyun, but that wasnt true. He just stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to do next. 

Yuta stood up and made his way towards Jaehyun. He smiled and wrapped his arms around him and pulled him in for a hug. Jaehyun loved Hugs. He loved how warm it felt, and it made him feel that someone truly cared. Jaehyun unconsciously hugged back. 

After a while, Yuta let go. Then, he formally introduced himself. 

“Hey Jaehyun, I’m Yuta, Sicheng’s boyfriend. He told me what happened in the morning, and I just want to thank you for saving Sicheng and protecting him. If there is any way I can pay you back then please let me know I promise that I’ll——

“Hyung please... there is nothing to pay me back. I did what any regular person would do. I’m just glad that I was in the right place at the right time!”

“Still... I must insist.”

“If I ever need anything, I’ll ask you for it.”

“What if you never ask me??”

“Then you can just treat me to a meal!!”

“Sounds good!!”

Johnny had been silently listening to the whole conversation. He promptly got up and gave Jaehyun a hug. 

“Hey Jaehyun, I’m from Johnny. I’m also from the US, just like you!!”

At the mention of US, Jaehyun’s face lit up in a smile. But before Jaehyun could ask him any further questions, Ten chimed in. 

“So, since Jaehyun is already roommates with Taeyong, and he’s already impressed all of us on the first day itself, this means that he’s a part of our group now, right??”

“Yes!! That’s right!!” Everyone said together.

“Jaehyun, from today, you are a part of our gang. You’re gonna eat with us during breaks, join us for parties during weekends, come for sleepovers, and annoy us whenever the hell you want to because that’s what we do! Sound good to you?”

“Yeah... I’d love to be friends with you guys!!”

“Great!! Now let me tell you about us. I’m Ten, and this is my boyfriend Johnny. That is Sicheng and Yuta. We have two more people in our group, Taeyong whom you already know, and Kun, who you shall meet soon. We have Another friend, Doyoung, but he’s always out with his boyfriend or doing vocal training and never really hangs out with us anymore. He’s a pain in the ass but we love him so...” Jaehyun laughed a little at the last comment. 

“Johnny is an art major, I am majoring in dance, Yuta and Sicheng are psychology majors, Taeyong and Kun are economics majors, and Doyoung is a music major! And don’t worry... the others are going to love you!! I hope we can be very close friends!!”

Ten smiled and gave Jaehyun a tight hug. 

Jaehyun can never explain what was going through him. For the last god knows how many years of his life, Jaehyun had only seen his parents fighting. He used to go to college to forget about his family problems, but the intense pressure at Yale didn’t make it easy for him. He had very frequent mental breakdowns, and just wanted to give up. But he went on. For his sake, and for the sake of not being labelled a failure, he went on....

And finally, so many years later, it was as if god had heard his prayers. God had given him a family… or atleast what seemed like the beginning of one. To say he was thankful would be an understatement. 

Jaehyun sat down and was just about to start talking when Taeyong and Kun arrived. 

Taeyong’s face had an unreadable expression when he saw Jaehyun. It was something in between shock and happiness, surprise and confusion. 

Before anyone could say anything, Ten cut them off. 

“Oh Taeyong, looks like we met your roommate before you could introduce us!!”

“Oh, You’re Jaehyun??” Kun asked

“Yes... nice to meet you!!”

“You too Jaehyun, I’m Kun!!”

Taeyong didn’t say anything. He just quietly went and occupied the seat in between Ten and Jaehyun. 

Sicheng then began to tell everyone the story of what happened with him that morning, and how Jaehyun saved him. Everyone was listening intently and while Yuta was extremely pissed and just wanted to beat all those boys to a pulp, the other people on the table, however, were very impressed with Jaehyun’s behaviour. They all praised him and thanked him and said that they were glad to be friends with him. 

Kun looked very worried. Oh my god Sicheng sweetie where did you get hurt... show me your hands... do you want me to go get you something to eat?? Or make you something when I get back?? Or should I—“

Sicheng cut him off. 

“Kun hyung I’m alright. You’re not my mom.”

“Damn right I’m not. I’m your dad!!”

“Hyung you’re not my dad!”

“Dong Sicheng did I fucking stutter??”

Sicheng gave up trying to persuade Kun. It was to no avail. 

Within a matter of seconds, the table was filled with chaos, with everyone screaming, jumping and laughing. Taeyong decided to use this opportunity. 

Taeyong gave Jaehyun a pat on his back. Jaehyun looked at him and Taeyong smiled. 

“Thank you Jaehyun, for what you did today. I cannot think of anyone in SNU who wouldve done that. You’re an amazing person inside out and I hope you know that.” Taeyong squeezed Jaehyun’s thighs gently to let him know that he was truly grateful. 

“Everything happened too fast. It was a whole blur for Jaehyun, but he clearly remembers Taeyong smiling at him, and Taeyong squeezing his thigh in acknowledgement. Electricity shot through Jaehyun as he played and replayed what happened. Jaehyun wanted to thank Taeyong, but he knew that hos voice was going to crack. He just opted for a soft smile instead. 

Seeing Jaehyun smile did things to Taeyong. It made him feel weird, made him feel stuff he’d never felt before. Taeyong turned his attention back to his friends, who were still arguing. But in his mind, he was constantly thinking about Jaehyun and his smile. It seemed as if that photo of Jaehyun had made a solid place in Taeyong’s mind, and it didn’t plan on leaving... atleast not anytime soon. 

Taeyong knew what was going to come. But he didn’t want to acknowledge it yet. He was going to take it as it came, and go with the flow. Right now they were nothing, but Taeyong knew thst if things went his way, then they would be something... maybe even more than someone. But it was the future.... so he decided to leave it there. When the time came, he’d handle his feelings... but not now... not yet...

“Taeyong... you got a storm coming your way...” he silently said to himself as he continued picturing Jaehyun in his head...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soool how was it?? I hope you liked it and I promise to put in more Jaeyong and other ships as time passes. Leave your comments and Kudos please!! Thank you for reading!!


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this is the longest chapter till date and it has both fluff and angst!! There may be some triggering content here so please reread the tags before reading this chapter. I hope you like it!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so idk how many of you noticed but i changed the tags a little and added a few more tags and I just want to say that I worked really hard on this chapter, and that this chapter has mentions of a troubled childhood, homophobia, and self harm. There is nothing in detail, and they are all just mentioned but in case anyone gets triggered with these, i suggest you don’t read it. Also, I love reading feeback, so if you’d please drop something in my cc regarding the fic then i’d be extremely grateful. Anyways enough of my shittalk... please enjoy the chapter now!!

It had been a few months since Jaehyun had joined the University. Jaehyun had befriended all the others very easily, and not only Taeyong’s group of friends, but also the juniors, who were friends with Jeno. He’d met Jaemin who Jeno was big time crushing on, and after talking to him for about ten minutes, had given Jeno a thumbs up, which meant that Jeno was free to go for Jaemin. Jeno had turned into a blushing mess at that time, and he was just glad that nobody else had noticed his red face. 

Jaehyun had also become quite popular in SNU. His dimpled face and excruciatingly good looks had earned him a lot of fans, girls and boys alike, but Jaehyun had never shown any interest in any of them. Plus, everyone knew that Jaehyun was gay, and although the boys had sometimes asked Jaehyun for a cup of coffee here and there, Jaehyun had politely let them know that he wasn’t open for a relationship. 

Jaehyun’s grades in class were also quite high. He always ranked 1st or 2nd in his Major, and when he ranked second, it was Jeno who would rank first. Jeno and Jaehyun were known as the power brothers in the university and although almost everyone except Jaemin knew about Jeno’s raging crush, it seemed like Jaehyun was almost unattainable. The smartest and most popular boys in the university had tried to ask him out, but he refused everytime. 

Overall, Jaehyun was having a good time at his university. Taeyong and Chenle were good roommates, he had become very close with Yuta, Sicheng, Kun, Taeyong, Johnny, and Ten, and his grades were all high. His brother Jeno was also happy and doing well. 

In a nutshell, Jaehyun was happy with every aspect of his life, except one. 

LEE TAEYONG. 

It hadnt taken Jaehyun too much time to figure out his crush on his roommate. Ever since the first moment they shared, where Taeyong had comforted him regarding his grandfather, and Jaehyun had poured his heart out to him, Taeyong and Jaehyun had gotten insanely close. They were roommates, had a class together, and also sat together during lunch. Sometimes Taeyong wouldn’t be able to make it to lunch due to his student council duties, and on those days, Jaehyun would make sure to buy some food and leave it on Taeyong’s desk. The thought of Taeyong not eating and staying hungry the whole day drove him bonkers. 

Slowly, Jaehyun started noticing the smaller details in Taeyong. The way Taeyong’s lips curved when he smiled, the way Taeyong got clingy when he was sleepy, the way Taeyong smelled of strawberries and vanilla, the way he loved being hugged, how paranoid he was about cleaning, but still got no time to clean, and a thousand other things. Jaehyun slowly started looking forward to Taeyong coming home everyday, talking to Taeyong about his day, making small talk, having dinner together, and all the other small insignificant things. To Taeyong they were most probably nothing more than spending some extra time with their roommate, but to Jaehyun, it was the highlight of his day. 

And slowly… Jaehyun had figured that the feelings he had for the little boy were more than platonic… he had gotten romantic feelings for the boy. Jaehyun was a very straightforward person, and if he liked someone, he was the type of person who would just go and tell that to the person on his face. But for some reason... when it came to Taeyong… Jaehyun couldn’t do that. He was scared… scared of losing Taeyong… he knew that Taeyong was an amazing person, and even after Taeyong would reject him, he’d still offer to remain friends with Jaehyun… but Jaehyun had seen enough movies and read enough books to know that that NEVER happens… it’s easy for the other person to say that they’d be friends but Jaehyun knew that after he got rejected, he’d never be able to look at Taeyong in the eye, let alone be friends with him. So, he decided against telling him the truth. 

“He only likes you as a friend, Jaehyun” he told himself. 

If Taeyong had heard Jaehyun say that out loud, then he’d just have laughed at his face for five minutes straight, leading to a confused Jaehyun, and would’ve then gone on to kiss the confusion off his pretty face. Because while Jaehyun here was struggling with his raging crush, Taeyong’s state was definitely no better. 

Taeyong knew from the very first time he saw Jaehyun, that he was going to fall for him. And boy had he been right. All those little hugs and small smiles that Jaehyun gave Taeyong for the most minor things had slowly become Taeyong’s favourite things. In fact, at this point, Taeyong had sometimes purposely not turned up for lunch breaks, because he knew that Jaehyun would be buy and keep some food for him. It was probably the simplest and most platonic gesture by Jaehyun, but for Taeyong it meant the whole world. He had never had anyone care for him this much in his whole life. Sure Taeyong had had a very loving dad, and friends like Ten, Johnny, Sicheng, Yuta and Kun, but the way Jaehyun treated him, Taeyong truly felt that he was on top of the world. Jaehyun knew how to pull Taeyong out of his sadness with just a few words, Jaehyun knew how Taeyong liked to be hugged, with one hand massaging his neck and the other rubbing soft circles on his back. Jaehyun knew how Taeyong liked his pancakes, with blueberry jam and no maple syrup. Jaehyun knew Taeyong’s favourite ice cream flavour, mint chocolate. Jaehyun knew which movies made Taeyong cry and which ones uplifted his mood. Jaehyun practically knew everything about Taeyong that one knows about their partner, and the fact that Jaehyun always used these little things to make Taeyong happy and uplift his mood was absolutely not helping Taeyong’s case. Everyday, Taeyong was slowly falling into the dark hole named Jung Yoonoh, and there was no escape. 

Jaehyun and Taeyong were both happily living their lives, sometimes separately and sometimes together, till she came into the picture...

SHE, was Jaehyun’s mother. 

The morning had started off quite casually. Taeyong, Jaehyun and Chenle had woken up, gotten ready and left for their classes. Taeyong had a couple of submissions that day, and a meeting with the Principal regarding some issues that the university was facing but apart from that they were all free. The friends group had decided to meet up over lunch to discuss their plans for the weekend. 

Taeyong as usual was running a little late because he had that meeting with the Principal. It was when he was entering the Principal’s office that he saw her… a woman, dressed in dark colours, with more makeup on than necessary, and a bunch of expensive jewellery adorning her. She smelled strongly of Chanel, and Taeyong got weird vibes from her. She seemed like a person who only cared about materialistic values, and was here to show off her wealth. 

“She must be one of those rich parents whose here to beg the principal to postpone the assignment submission date for her dear child because he couldn’t finish it” Taeyong thought and rolled his eyes. He really hated these sort of people. 

The woman looked at Taeyong and gave him a sugary sweet smile, too sugary sweet if Taeyong was being honest. Not wanting to be rude, Taeyong smiled back in return and made his way into the office. 

His work was completed quickly, and Taeyong was thankful that he would have some time during the break to meet up with his friends. But as he was leaving the office, the principal called for him. 

“Taeyong.”

“Yes Sir??”

“You’re friends with Jung Jaehyun right??”

Taeyong was bewildered... why was the principal asking about Jaehyun??

“Yes Sir, I am.”

“Please send him to my office.”

“Sure sir. May I know why though??”

“Yes. Tell him his mother is here to see him.”

Jaehyun’s mother?? Was she the sickly sweet woman outside?? Taeyong got a weird vibe… Jaehyun had told him that he didn’t have a very good relationship with either of his parents and they were the reason behind him having to leave Connecticut. And now she was here to see him?? Taeyong had an uneasy feeling inside him. He just hoped that Jaehyun would be okay. 

Taeyong made his way to the cafeteria and saw all his friends animatedly chatting. Kun was the first one to notice him and put his hand up to call him. 

“Hey Taeyong!!”

“Hey Kun! Hey guys! Sorry I won’t be able to make it today either.. work calls...”

Everyone groaned. This was regular for Taeyong but the others really missed him. 

“Sorry once again guys... but I gotta rush.. Jaehyun can you come with me for a second?”

“Hearing Taeyong call him separately came as quite a surprise to Jaehyun. But still, he decided to push all those thoughts aside and go with him. Taeyong took Jaehyun out of the cafeteria to a quieter section of the University. 

“Jaehyun...”

“Yes Taeyong Hyung...”

“The principal called for you. Your mother is here.” Taeyong breathed out. 

Hearing about his mother, Jaehyun went still. 

Taeyong could feel the uneasiness in Jaehyun, so he kept a hand on Jaehyun’s shoulders and gently massaged it. 

Jaehyun seemed to slowly get more relaxed and he ultimately leaned into Taeyong’s touch. Taeyong softly smiled at him and wrapped his arms around Jaehyun’s neck and gave him a nice tight hug. Taeyong was a couple of inches shorter than Jaehyun, so Jaehyun had to bend down a little to be able to comfortably put his head on Taeyong’s shoulder, but he managed. It felt nice, it felt like home. And it was ironic because there, a few feet away, Jaehyun’s mother was waiting for him but Jaehyun could swear on each last braincell of his that in that moment, him in Taeyong’s arms, taking in the scent of Taeyong and feeling Taeyong slowly take the uneasiness off him felt more like home than his mother ever could. 

Eventually they broke the hug. Taeyong sympathetically looked at Jaehyun in the eye. 

“Jaehyunnie, I know you have a rough relationship with your mom, and I know you don’t want to see her, but she’s waiting inside, and if you don’t go, then she’ll probably make a scene in front of everyone. I know it’s hard for you, but I believe in you. You can do this, okay. I’ll be right outside, so don’t worry.”

Taeyong smiled at Jaehyun and intertwined their hands together. Generally, Taeyong was a person who couldn’t even look at their crush without going red but something about Jaehyun and the circumstances gave him a lot of assurance. He didn’t want Jaehyun to be hurting, and seeing Jaehyun like that, he absolutely hated it. Maybe that is why Taeyong suddenly had this urge to protect Jaehyun… or maybe it was something else, Taeyong didn’t know. All he knew was that Jaehyun needed mental support, and he was going to be there to give it to him... as his roommate, and as his friend. 

Taeyong and Jaehyun walked till the principal’s Office together, hands intertwined. When they reached, Taeyong slowly left his clasp on Jaehyun hand. Jaehyun smiled at him, whispered a soft thank you, and went inside. Outside, Taeyong could only hope that everything would be okay. 

Jaehyun entered the principal’s office and was instantly met with that oh so familiar smell of Chanel. Jaehyun had really hoped that he’d not have to see her again in his life but fate had decided to intervene and play a dirty game. Thus, there was Jaehyun, and about two feet away was his mother, with her sickly sweet smile. 

Jaehyun knew that smile oh too well. And thus, he also knew not to fall for it. 

“I’ll give you two some space” the principal said as he stepped out of the room. 

As soon as the principal left, Jaehyun’s mother got up from the couch on which she was previously sitting and slowly made her way towards Jaehyun. She grazed her hand over his face and caressed his cheek. Jaehyun felt disgusted. But he didn’t move or dare to say anything. He just wanted it all to be over. 

“Jaehyun baby... I’ve come to take you back.” His mother said. 

“What?”

“Back!! Back to Connecticut…!”

“Again.... WHAT??”

“You can rejoin Yale, and you and I can live happily again. Your dad and my divorce got finalised. And I’ve already found another man. He’s an industrialist and we are going to get married soon. You’ll have your new dad soon baby.. time for you to come back to the USA!”

“I’m not going back.”

“Jaehyun... what do you mean?? You’re a Yale Student... you are FROM Connecticut... and you’re gonna stay here... IN ASIA?”

“I WAS a Yale Student. Not anymore. I’ve gotten used to the lifestyle here. I have friends here. I’m happy. I’m not going to go back to you and your rich new husband just so that you can fulfil your ego by showing dad that I care about you more than I do about him. I am a human being myself and I won’t let you both toy around with me anymore. I’m staying here and that’s it.”

“The fuck did you just say?”

“Mom... I’m not going back with you. You can leave.”

To say that Jaehyun’s mom was angry would be an understatement. She was so livid that the veins in her forehead were clearly visible and it almost seemed that they were going to pop out. 

Jaehyun’s mom held his wrist harshly. Jaehyun winced in pain. 

“Listen to me Jung Jaehyun. I am your mother, and you are going to listen to everything I say. I don’t care what you like, or whether you’ve made friends here. If I say you’re going back, then you’re going back. You are just lucky I didn’t disown you and leave you in the streets after you came out as gay. I gave birth to you, and you owe your life to me. So stop your drama, go back and pack your bags. You are going back with me and I won’t take no for an answer.”

Her grip on Jaehyun’s wrist had tightened with every word she had uttered and at this point she was holding it so tightly that Jaehyun knew that they were going to leave marks. 

“No Mom....” Jaehyun choked out a sob. 

“All my life I’ve been a patsy to you and dad... having to choose between one of you just to feed your ego... but not anymore. I’m an adult, and I’ve made my decision. I choose NEITHER of you. I’m tired of what you’ve put me through the last couple of years. But not anymore. I am NOT going to go back and be a victim of your mental torture anymore.”

Jaehyun had tried very hard to stay calm and say these words without making a scene, but at the end he just couldn’t and he let out a loud sob.

This whole time, Taeyong had been missing his lunch break and was standing there, waiting. He was quite worried about Jaehyun and the thought of him being alone with his mother worried Taeyong. Taeyong just hoped that Jaehyun and his mother’s relationship wasn’t as bad as the one he had with his own mother. 

Taeyong couldn’t hear much from outside, but judging by his mother’s voice, they were fighting. Taeyong had a mental battle as to whether he should go inside and talk it out or not. After all, he was the student council president and it was his duty to make sure that all students were okay. So, protecting Jaehyun was just his duty right?? Nothing else... right?? Taeyong thought about it for a long time and decided against it. He was close to Jaehyun, but he still had no right to intervene in his family issues. So he just stood there and waited. However, when he heard Jaehyun’s sob coming from inside the room, his head lost all cool. 

“Fuck It” he said to himself as he walked inside. 

When Taeyong went inside, he couldn’t believe what he saw. 

He saw Jaehyun shaking, as if he was scared. He was almost a crying mess and opposite him was his mother who was holding his wrist so tightly that Taeyong was sure that they were going to leave marks. 

Taeyong felt so angry. He almost felt like beating the living shit out of that woman, no matter how much older she was. But one look at Jaehyun and he decided against it. Jaehyun looked like he was a mess, shaking, tired, on the verge of tears. Taeyong knew he had to get him out of there. 

“Excuse me, what are you doing?” Taeyong asked, which caused both of them to look at him. 

“T-Taeyong Hyung...” Jaehyun stuttered. Taeyong just gave him a reassuring nod, and focused his attention back on his mother. 

“Who the fuck are you??” his mom asked. 

“I’m Lee Taeyong, Student Council President here. May I know what you’re doing??”

“No you may not!” his mom spat out. 

“Ma’am, please leave Jaehyun’s hand. I can clearly see that he’s in pain.”

“He’s my son, and I can do whatever the fuck I want with him. Now get the fuck out!”

“I’m sorry but I can’t. I can’t let you keep holding Jaehyun’s hand like that. He’s in pain, and I don’t care who you are but I cannot let you cause pain to him.”

Taeyong walked upto Jaehyun and took his free hand and intertwined it with his own. 

“Now if you’ll please leave his hand, ma’am.” Taeyong said politely. 

“Listen to me student body head whoever you are. You are nobody to meddle into our family affairs. So go do your other jobs.… cleaning the university or whatever shit y’all do, and leave me and my son alone!” 

Taeyong had had enough. He could see how Jaehyun was annoyed and sad at the same time and not being able to do anything made him feel even worse. So Taeyong decided to do that which would surely work. He turned towards Jaehyun. 

“Jaehyun, are you comfortable with your mother?”

Jaehyun looked up at Taeyong with glassy eyes. Taeyong gave a little squeeze to his hand to let him know that he was alright. 

“No...” he mumbled. 

“Do you want to be here with your mother?”

“No.”

“Do you want to get out of here as soon as possible and get back to your daily work?”

“Yes.”

“Well then I guess we have an answer.” Taeyong said proudly. 

“Mrs Jung, you cannot keep your son here against his wish. I am going to call the principal and he is going to ask you to leave. Unless you want to leave yourself, and prevent causing a scene.” Taeyong had a determination in his eyes and Jaehyun was very surprised. He had never seen this side of Taeyong. 

The woman’s hold on Jaehyun’s hand loosened and Jaehyun took this chance to yank his hand out of his mother’s grip. He winced as he saw the red marks all across his wrists. They were gonna become purple soon. 

Taeyong’s heart hurt seeing Jaehyun in pain. But Taeyong decided to push all those thoughts away. His first and only priority was to take Jaehyun as far away from his mother as he could. 

“Thank you ma’am. We shall be on our way now.”

Taeyong smiled as he turned around and left the Principal’s office, taking Jaehyun with him, and leaving a very livid and very very shocked woman behind. 

Jaehyun was too shook to talk. They just walked together hand in hand till they reached the university gates. 

“You and I are both going home. You are too much in shock to attend classes, and I don’t have any other important classes after break anyways. I’m not leaving you alone. I’ve already texted Jeno that you won’t be attending anymore classes, and to take down all notes for you. Now come with me.”

Jaehyun couldn’t even mumble a thank you. He was too much in shock and he just let Taeyong simply lead their way. 

It was when they came back to their dormroom and Jaehyun fell on his knees and fully started bawling. 

Taeyong didn’t know what to do. He’d never seen Jaehyun this vulnerable and this messed up EVER before. He didn’t know what it was... just that it had something to do with his past, his family. So he did the first thing that came to his head. He sat down on his knees and gave Jaehyun a tight hug. 

Taeyong loved hugs. He loved giving them, loved getting them, loved the feeling of someone wrapping their arms around them. Best friend or lover, classmate or junior... Taeyong was open for hugs all the time. Taeyong knew what hugs felt like... he’d possibly given every type of hug in the book of hugs (if that’s even a real book) to someone or the other throughout his life. But at that time, when he hugged Jaehyun, it felt different. If felt special, it felt personal. He felt an emotional connection with Jaehyun. 

Taeyong hugged Jaehyun harder and pulled him closer. With their chests flushed against each other, Jaehyun hugging Taeyong back, and Jaehyun’s head on Taeyong’s shoulder... they lay there. They sat there unmoving, enjoying each other’s company, basking in each other’s presence. They didn’t care about anything else at that moment. The only thing that mattered to them was the presence of the other. 

Taeyong slowly felt Jaehyun stop shaking. Then, Jaehyun’s cries dissolved into small sobs, and then they finally stopped. Jaehyun broke the hug and looked up at Taeyong. His ears and cheeks were red, and his eyes had a glint of sadness in it. Taeyong didn’t want to force him to say anything, but before he could tell Jaehyun that it was okay, the latter started talking. 

“Thank You Hyung.”

“Don’t thank me Jaehyun. I did what any friend would do.”

FRIEND. That word stung both Jaehyun and Taeyong, but they weren’t going to spoil this moment. 

“Hyung, I don’t know what I would’ve done if it weren’t for you. And since you saved me, you deserve to know the truth of my past.”

“Jaehyun please don’t force youself.. you really don’t need to—“

“I insist.”

So Taeyong and Jaehyun sat down and Jaehyun began telling him the story of his childhood. 

“My parents were both extremely smart and had had the best education. My mom was a lawyer at Connecticut’s bigggest lawfirm and my dad had his own business. They had fallen in love and gotten married... but over time they realised that they hadnt fallen in love witb each other, but had fallen in love with their determination instead. Both of them were very competitive and everytime one of my parents did better than the other, the other would get jealous and do something even better. The competed about every little thing... uptil the point of who could wash dishes better. They even competed about me... on so many occasions I was made to choose who I loved more... my mom or dad...” Jaehyun choked up a sob. It was truly difficult for him to talk about his past and nobody knew it better than Taeyong. He knew what it was like to have a hard past, and with every syllable Jaehyun uttered, Taeyong was reminded more and more of his childhood. With every word of Jaehyun’s that he heard... he remembered everything he had to go through as a child.... it triggered him to a huge extent, but Taeyong kept quiet. He wanted to be there for Jaehyun and if it was going to be at the expense of his mental peace, then so be it. 

Jaehyun contined....

“Having two such brilliant parents had rubbed off on me too... ever since primary school, all my teachers used to give the example of my parents as people we should idolise. I was always under pressure from both my teachers as well as my parents, because I had to be the best. All that pressure kind of messed with my head. And after that... the thing with my parents, it just got worse. As time passed, my parents started arguing more and more and slowly they started dragging me into their fights. I tried my best to stay away from this but at the end, it just got quite out of hand. So I left USA and came to live with Jeno and my Uncle who welcomed me heartily and here I am...” Jaehyun completed his story. 

Taeyong had been listening intently. He smiled at Jaehyun. Then he softly massaged his neck....

“I’m glad you took a stand for yourself and decided to move. A lot of people don’t have the courage to do it… trust me, I know, and I understand where you’re coming from...”

“You understand... how can you possibly understand hyung??”

“I’ve been through a lot in my childhood too... I know what it’s like”

“Hyung what could you have possibly gone through in your childhood that can make you understand what I’m going through?? Unless you had your parents fighting and making your life a living hell... then I don’t think anything you’ve gone through could equal the pain I felt...”

Taeyong was bewildered. Why was Jaehyun suddenly acting like such a dick??

“Jaehyun you’re not the only one who comes from a broken family and has had a troubled childhood... I’ve had my ups and downs too. Just because I’m not vocal about it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist.”

“Hyung... I dont know what you went through, but I know for a fact that you didn’t have as much family issues as I did. Heck, you talk to your dad almost every day and your dad facetimes you atleast twice a week making sure you’re okay. So please don’t make my situation into something that every Tom, Dick and Harry could’ve experienced. It’s not that easy, and nobody will ever understand my pain.” 

Taeyong got really mad now. Not only was Jaehyun condescending upon his past and his family issues, but he was also accusing Taeyong of having an easy life?? Who the hell was this Jaehyun?? Taeyong knew that he shouldn’t talk about his past... it only messed up his head more and made him sick, but he hated the way Jaehyun was behaving... as if he was the only one with a hard past...

“Jaehyun... I don’t know whats gotten into you but you’re being really insensitive right now. I understand that your childhood was hard, but if doesnt give you the right to condescend upon mine, or someone else’s childhood.”

Jaehyun stood up so that he was face to face with Taeyong. 

“I just know that nobody could’ve gone through the amount of shit I went through. So just stop trying to compare your and my past and circumstances because you will NEVER understand.”

“Jaehyun what the fuck is wrong with you?? You can’t just go around saying that everyone else’s troubled childhoods are fake and you’re the only one who had to face shit. I dont know what’s gotten into you... whether its the fatigue talking, but you’re being a real dick right now!!!” Taeyong had lost his cool and yelled at Jaehyun. However, he immediately realised that he’d fucked up. He looked at Jaehyun and attempted to apologise when the other cut him off. 

“Jaehyun I didn’t mean it I’m so—“

“Fucking SAVE IT!” Jaehyun snapped. 

Jaehyun swearing had taken Taeyong by surprise. He’d never seen Jaehyun this pissed before.

“You know what Taeyong hyung... when I first got to know you I thought you were understanding, I thought you got me, and we could be really really close, but I was wrong. You’re just like the other people. You don’t take my struggles seriously. You just think that my life is like any other child’s and my troubles and problems are simple. You never got me, and you never will.”

“Jaehyun that’s not tr—“

“Don’t interrupt and let me finish.”

Taeyong shut up and let Jaehyun continue. Tears were threatening to spill from his eyes, but Taeyong held on. 

“Hyung... I really thought that out of all our friends.. you would be the one to understand me, but you turned out to be the exact opposite. You are just like all the others… like the people I tried to stay away from in my previous school. You can never be in my place, even if you try. You can never know what it’s like to be me. So please leave the room hyung, I don’t want to see or talk to you right now.”

Taeyong was shocked. First, Jaehyun condescend upon his past, pretended that he’s the only one with a troubled childhood, and now was throwing Taeyong out of his own room??

“Wow Jaehyun really is campaigning for asshole of the year...” Taeyong thought to himself. 

“You can’t throw me out Jaehyun... this is OUR room.”

“Right now, I don’t give a fuck. Just leave. I don’t want to talk to you.”

“But Jaehyun—“

“OH MY GOD TAEYONG HYUNG DO YOU REALLY NOT UNDERSTAND THAT I WANT TO BE LEFT ALONE??? I DON’T WANT TO SEE YOUR FUCKING FACE RIGHT NOW. SO DO ME A FUCKING FAVOUR AND LEAVE ME. GO ANYWHERE I DON’T CARE. GO SOB IN YOUR MOM’S LAP FOR ALL YOU WANT. JUST LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE!!” Jaehyun screamed, and he turned his back towards Taeyong and tried to sleep. 

At the mention of his mother, Taeyong went stiff. All his memories started rushing back to him... all those thoughts that he’d locked away in a box at the back of his head had suddenly come back to haunt him. Taeyong could feel an anxiety attack coming... he could feel that his legs were going to give away soon... so he just wordlessly left their room and went away....

At University, their friends were getting really worried. Kun and Jeno had received texts from Taeyong saying that neither of them would be attending any classes. Everyone was worried sick. Ten and Johnny did not have any classes after break, so they decided to go and check up on the both of them. 

On reaching their dormroom, they found the door closed. They knocked on it a couple of times, but nobody opened. Thankfully, Taeyong had given Ten and Johnny an extra key to his dormroom before. They opened the door and went in. 

On going in, they saw that the whole room was dark. The curtains were closed and the lights were off. The only sound that was coming was from the ceiling fan going round and round. 

Ten and Johnny found a lump on the bed that was too big to be Taeyong’s. They found Jaehyun curled up on his bed, with a blanket over him. 

Johnny went forward and put a hand on Jaehyun’s shoulder. 

“Go away Taeyong hyung, I don’t want to talk to you right now...” came the reply. 

“Jaehyun it’s me Johnny. Are you alright?? Did you and Taeyong have a fight?” Johnny’s voice was laced with concern. 

Jaehyun just got up and hugged Johnny. He cried into his shirt till there were no tears left in him, and Johnny’s shirt had a big wet patch near the shoulder. 

“Johnny Hyung.. I’m so sorry I—“

“You have no reason to apologise Jaehyun. Do you want to talk about what happened? If you don’t want to, then it’s fine. And do you know where Taeyong’s is??”

At the mention of Taeyong’s name, Jaehyun went stiff. 

“No, I don’t know where Taeyong hyung went. We had a fight. He was being rude and unreasonable.” Jaehyun’s voice sounded mad and hurt. 

Ten, who had been quietly listening and watching, now got up. He knew that if Taeyong had truly been rude and unreasonable, then it was a big deal. 

“Ten Hyung, Johnny Hyung... you guys are some of my closest friends. I’ll tell you guys what happened.”

Jaehyun sat up. Ten sat on one side of Jaehyun, while Johnny sat on the other. They sliwly rubbed Jaehyun’s back to ease him. After a while, Jaehyun started talking. 

Jaehyun told them everything he had told Taeyong. About his past, his parents, the pressure, the amount of shit he had had to go through, everything. Then he told them how Jaehyun’s mother had turned up today and tried to take Jaehyun away and how Taeyong had saved him. Johnny and Ten couldn’t do anything. They just sympathised with him, and gave him a big hug. 

“But why did you have a fight with Taeyong after this??”

“He uh.... said some stuff about me.... my past and I said some stuff to him... and then he stormed out.” 

“What did you guys fight about.”

“Our past.”

At the mention of the word past, Ten stood up. He was scared. He just hoped that Jaehyun hadn’t mentioned anything about his mother to Taeyong. 

“Jaehyun.... WHAT DID YOU TELL TAEYONG?”

“We were talking about our past and then he started talking about how he empathised with me because he’d been through the same stuff and blah blah blah... how can he compare whatever his childhood was... with mine?? AFTER I POURED OUT HIS WHOLE HEART TO HIM?? IS THAT WHAT FRIENDS ARE SUPPOSED TO DO??? FUCKING COMPARE AND MAKE YOU SEEM WEAK BECAUSE HE WENT THROUGH SOMETHING IN HIS PAST AND OVERCAME IT WHILE I’M STILL HERE CRYING LIKE A COWARD??” Jaehyun was pissed off beyond limits. 

“Johnny, as usual, was the calm one here. Though he knew that Jaehyun was at fault, and he would have to apologise to Taeyong, he could understand where the former was coming from. It must’ve been hard for him to face his mother after so long, and listening to Taeyong somehow made him lose his cool, and he lashed out. Johnny wasn’t going to defend Jaehyun, but he understood him. 

However, Ten wasn’t having any of his shit. He stood up, eyes wide and body shaking. 

“Jaehyun.... did you mention anything about Taeyong’s mother to him??”

“Why are you asking?”

“JUNG JAEHYUN ANSWER MY FUCKING QUESTION DID YOU SAY ANYTHING ABOUT HIS MOM TO HIM?? DID YOU EVEN FUCKING MENTION HIS MOM TO HIM?” Ten was almost in tears.

Jaehyun was confused. 

“What if I did?”

That was all it took for Ten to lash out on Jaehyun. 

“Jaehyun what the fuck is wrong with you?? Taeyong saved your ass from your mom because you’re a fucking coward who can’t do confrontation and THIS is how you pay Taeyong back?? By lashing out on him?? By triggering him?? By reminding him of his past that he worked so hard to put behind him?? Destroying those years of therapy sessions where all he would do is cry? You don’t know Jaehyun, because you’ve known him for only a couple of months... but me.. I was there. I WAS FUCKING THERE!!! You know nothing about what Taeyong went through, so shut the fuck up and stop accusing him of comparing your situations. If you knew Taeyong even a little bit then you’d know that after what he went through, he’d never try to invalidate your feelings.... NEVER!!!! You’re a terrible friend Jaehyun!!” 

Ten was full on crying by the time he finished and Johnny had to hold him to make sure he didn’t fall. Johnny pulled Ten towards himself and let him cry on his chest. He hugged the shorter and pressed a couple of kisses to the top of his head to calm him down. 

After Ten had calmed down, Jaehyun spoke up. 

“What do you mean hyung... triggering.. therapy... what are you talking about.”

Ten gave a very dirty look to Jaehyun. If looks could kill, then Jaehyun wouldve been dead by now. 

Johnny, being the calm person again, decided to speak up.

“Listen to me Jaehyun. It’s not our place to say this, but again, I know Taeyong would’ve told you this himself sooner or later, so I’ll just tell you now. But first you tell me something... have you ever had any of your parents look down upon you and call you names just because you were gay?? Have you ever heard them telling you that you’re the black sheep of the family, and that you’re a failure?? Have you ever been crippled by their words to that extent that you felt that your life was a waste?? Have you ever tried to physically harm yourself to forget about all the mental pain you’re facing?? Have you ever tried to crash your car just so that you wouldn’t have to live your life anymore?? Because if you’ve not faced any of these things, then you could never know even a fraction of what Taeyong is going through right now, and what he’s gone through in the past” Johnny finished. 

Jaehyun’s eyes became wider with realisation with every word Johnny uttered. He couldn’t believe what he had done. Jaehyun’s voice was shaking, and his eyes were full of unshed tears as he spoke...

“Tae....Taeyong Hyung...physical h-harm... c-car crash.... hyung what are you saying!!!!”

“Again... not my place to say, Jaehyun. I think Taeyong would’ve told you this himself but after how you behaved with him, I don’t think you can even go back to being friends with him anymore. You hurt him bad, Jaehyun.”

“No no no no no shit fuck fuck I fucked up Johnny Hyung, Ten hyung what do I do now?!”

“Nothing!!” Ten snapped. 

“You’ve done enough Jaehyun. Now you do nothing. I’m going to go find Taeyong.”

“Can I come w—“

“No.” Ten said simply. 

“You’ve hurt Taeyong, and now it’s upto me to fix him. I’ve fixed him a lot of times before, I can do it this time too. Babe...” Ten looked at Johnny. 

“Yeah?”

“Be with Jaehyun okay. He’s been a dick to Taeyong, and I’m not forgiving him, but it’s been a stressful day for him too, and he needs some rest.” 

Johnny got up and kissed Ten on his forehead. 

“Text me when you find him. I’ll be with Jaehyun.” Johnny and Ten smiled at each other and Ten ran off to find his best friend. 

Taeyong hadn’t gone anywhere far. He was just sitting on the terrace. He knew that someone or the other would come to look for him, and would eventually find him. After all, everyone knew about how he was a heliophile. He looked into the horizon as he saw the sun setting... a beautiful shade of pink and ochre had scattered in the sky… Taeyong didn’t move. He had a painful smile on his face, and slowly, a drop of tear made it’s way from the corner of Taeyong’s eye, to the bottom of his face, before falling down. 

Taeyong’s hand softly went to caress his left thigh. Although it was clothed, he could still feel those scars... even after so many years of being clean, he hadn’t been able to get rid of those marks. They stood as a reminder of who he was before he became this Taeyong. This Taeyong who was kind, trustworthy, hardworking, sweet, caring, and the list could go on. Taeyong was proud of himself for coming this far, and being the person he was today. Three years back, he had promised Ten and Yuta that no matter what happened, he would never go back to being the old Taeyong, he would never go back to experiencing the physical pain just so that he could get his mind to stop working momentarily. And he wanted to abide by it. No matter what happened, no matter how bad things got, Taeyong knew that he’d always have Yuta and Ten by his side, and they’d support him through all his decisions. 

But what Taeyong had not expected was Jaehyun. And his behaviour. His sudden outburst. Those hurtful words. Even ten minutes ago, If you’d told Taeyong that his teddy bear roommate and crush was even capable of saying such stuff, then Taeyong wouldn’t believe you. But now, he was really begin to question himself. 

“Why did Jaehyun react like that?? Was it my fault?? Did I trigger him too much?? I really shouldn’t have brought up the topic about my past when he was talking about his… I should go apologise to him I feel so terrible…” Taeyong had a million thoughts running in his head when he felt a pair of thin arms wrap around his waist. He was pulled backward till he collided with someone’s chest. 

“Ten… I’m alright you know.”

“I don’t care. I am going to keep hugging you.”

Taeyong laughed. He turned around to face Ten, and hugged him comfortably. 

“Jaehyun is a dick. He’s a thick skulled moron and I’d gladly snap his neck if you asked me to” Ten said, hugging Taeyong. 

“Ten, how do you plan on snapping his neck when you’re legit half his size??” 

“Fine, I’ll slice his kneecaps then.”

“There’s no need to. I’ll be fine. It wasn’t that deep. We can talk and sort it out. I think it was kinda my fault I mean I—“

Ten didn’t let him finish. Breaking the hug, the smaller male grabbed the front of Taeyong’s shirt, and shook him violently. 

“Lee Taeyong listen to me. This isn’t your fault. This one is completely on Jaehyun. You did NOTHING. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. I AM NOT LETTING YOU APOLOGISE FOR SOMETHING YOU DID NOT DO. Jaehyun was a dick, and if he is truly sorry, he’ll apologise by himself. And if he doesn’t… then he can suck it up. You’re not apologising, Taeyong” Ten finished, firmly. 

“Honestly Ten, we can talk this out okay. People have fights… it alright. Jaehyun was quite vulnerable this morning. He has also had quite a hard past. And he’s had neither his mom or his dad by his side. Atleast I had dad to support me. I’m sure this is truly hard on him, and he didn’t even know about my past, my relationship with the woman who gave birth to me, my mental health issues, he knew nothing. Look, I know it’s partly his fault, but we can’t blame him for this completely. He really had no idea about this okay!! So how about we go back after sometime, after the both of us have cooled down and we have a proper, adult conversation like this??” Taeyong reasoned. 

“Taeyong… why are you defending Jaehyun?? He screwed up, and I’m not going to let you apologise for something he did. This one is completely on him!! Stop trying to mess my head with your reasonable throughts. I’m not letting you apologise to him okay!!”

“Ten sweetie I know you love me, and I love you too. And I understand that it was Jaehyun’s fault, but he was vulnerable, and he wasn’t thinking straight. I’m sure that if I apologise then everything will be alright. I really don’t want anyone to hate me or think badly of me, specially not my roommate. So let me fix this okay??”

“Ten was beyond baffled. Taeyong was never a person to give someone second chances. His trust issues didn’t let him trust people easily, specially not someome he’d only met for a couple of months. Ten’s mind began to short circuit, and before he knew it, Ten had figured it all out. Ten looked at Taeyong with a mixed expression of surprise and shock. 

“Tae... you love him, don’t you??”

Taeyong remained silent. He tried to say something, but his voice failed him. All he could do was smile sadly while he looked at the ground. 

Ten added two and two together, and before he knew it, Taeyong had been pulled into another hug by Ten. 

“Awh Sweetie… everything will be alright okay?? You got all of us with you. Don’t worry too much about this. We’ll figure something out.” Ten slowly rocked Taeyong back and forth, trying to calm him down. 

 

On the other side, Jaehyun was not doing too much better. Johnny and Ten’s words kept ringing in his ears, and slowly Jaehyun realised what a moron he’d been and how badly he’d behaved with Taeyong. Taeyong didn’t deserve this, neither this pain, not this heartbreak, nor a constant reminder of how hard his past was. Jaehyun knew that this time it was on him, and he’d have to fix the mess he’d made. He’d have to apologise to Taeyong, and beg for forgivess, no matter how hard it was. He knew that he had messed up, and he knew that this time he had to be the one to fix it. Laying on bed, he thought of all the possible scenarios and all the possible ways he could apologise and beg for forgiveness. 

“Damn it Jaehyun, you really fucked up bad this time…” he said to himself…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo sjdjskdk?? Idk how you found it?? Hopefully it wasn’t bad and hopefully yall are enjoying it?? I’m trying to make the plot thicker and i’m hoping that this is helping?? If you liked it, then please leave some kudos/comments!! Or maybe a twt dm or a cc?? They are both linked underneath!!I promise i’ll aswer everything!! See you next time!!


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> jaehyun and taeyong talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello i’m back again!! hopefully i didn’t take too much time to update... did i?? anyways thank you for bearing with my non periodic updates and supporting this story! i love all of you uwu

Taeyong and Ten were still sitting on the terrace, enjoying the sky. They were sitting on the ground, Taeyong’s head on Ten’s shoulder and Ten resting his head on top of Taeyong’s. They were breathing softly, and it was these moments with Ten that Taeyong cherished forever. He was so glad that he had a bestfriend like him. Even after Ten got a boyfriend, he never let Taeyong feel that he was replacing him. He introduced him to Johnny and the three got along quite well. Then Yuta and Sicheng came into their lives, and then Kun. The six of them had created quite a strong friendship amongst themselves, when Jaehyun came and joined them. And there they were. 

Taeyong was honestly enjoying this time that he was spending. He had calmed down a lot, which had helped him think clearly. Ten, however, looked quite disturbed. He had wrapped his arms around Taeyong’s waist and held on to him tightly. His lips were quivering slightly and his eyes looked full of unshed tears. 

“Ten... you remember the first time we met?”

“How could I ever forget?”

”How long has it been??”

“Twelve years, four months and twenty two days.”

“That’s really long, isn’t it??”

“Yeah…”

“Ten, you’re my best friend, I know when something’s wrong with you…”

“Tae, I’m alright. Don’t worry about me okay just please take care o—“

“You’re worried that I’m going to get back to my old habits, that I’m going to hurt myself to momentarily forget my mental pain, aren’t you?”

“Ten didn’t reply, but to Taeyong, his silence was an answer enough.”

“Ten, look at me…”

Taeyong held Ten’s face and looked directly into his eyes. 

“That promise I made to you and Yuta, I still remember it okay?? And I have no plans of breaking it. I’m okay… I’m clean… and I’d never put you guys through that again… I was the one with the cuts on the skin but you were the guys who were going through the pain… and I love you guys too much to make you go through that again, okay??”

By the time Taeyong finished, Ten was crying. Taeyong wrapped his arms around him and pulled him closer. 

“Taeyong… I can’t lose you okay. Just… please be alright.”

“I am alright, Ten. Now let’s go and talk to everyone. Let’s just… talk this whole thing out and solve the matter okay??”

“Yeah… you’re right, let’s go.”

Ten sent a quick text to Johnny that he’d found Taeyong and they were coming soon. Then, the two bestfriends made their way to the older’s room. 

Johnny got Ten’s text and heaved a sigh of relief. He looked towards Jaehyun who was lying down, staring at the ceiling, with two drops of tears falling from the corner of his eyes onto the pillow. 

“Jaehyun… Ten found Taeyong, they are coming back.”

At the mention of Taeyong, Jaehyun sat up on the bed. His face was a mixture of emotions, and Johnny couldn’t figure out whether Jaehyun was happy that Taeyong was okay, or scared that he had to face him. 

Johnny and Jaehyun had grown quite close in the last couple of months. Both being from America, they had found comfort in each other, and become each other’s confidante. And at this moment, Jaehyun was glad that he had Johnny by his side. 

“Johnny hyung… I know I screwed up. I won’t make any excuses. This is completely my fault. But how do I face him. How do I look at him in the face without remembering the pain I put him through sometime back. How do I live everyday knowing that Taeyong hyung saved me from my mother and I in turn hurt him even more instead of thanking him. How do I stand in front of the man who did so much for me, and I couldn’t even be human enough to validate his feelings. How can I do this hyung??”

Johnny sat down beside Jaehyun and put a hand on his back.

“Look, Jaehyun, I won’t lie to you. You screwed up. And now it’s on you to fix it. I’m not going to tell you what to say or how to say it. This is something you’re going to have to figure out yourself. But one think i can tell you for sure is that Taeyong is more understanding than you give him credit for, okay. He is not going to hold a grudge for too long, or say that he doesn’t want to be friends with you. So just… apologise to him, tell him the reason for your sudden outburst, and everything will be fine. Okay?”

“That’s where the problem is, hyung?? Why does Taeyong hyung have to be so perfect?? Taeyong hyung with is starry eyes, killer smile, perfectly sculpted face and the most impeccable behaviour. Why does he have to be the epitome of everything good? Why can’t he just slap me in the face and tell me that I’m a pathetic loser who deserves nothing good? Why does he have to take all the pain upon himself just to see others happy?? Why can’t he be fucking selfish for one second of his life and care about himself instead of laying his life down for others, day after day?? Why can’t he… just be human for one second instead of being a god…?

Jaehyun’s voice slowly broke down and he started crying again. Johnny rubbed his back to comfort him. 

“Jaehyun… I don’t know how to tell you this… but I’m pretty sure that you’re in love with Taeyong, in a more than platonic way.” 

“Hyung, you don’t think I know that??”

Johnny’s eyes were full of sympathy as he looked at the younger. 

“So, how long??”

“Its been a few weeks, and everyday I fall a little more than the previous day.”

“So, you’re gonna confess??”

“Someday, yeah. But not anytime soon.” Jaehyun sighed. 

“I just hope you guys fix everything up and become okay again. I just want you both to be happy.”

Jaehyun gave Johnny a sad smile. Suddenly there was a noise from the other side, which meant that someone had entered the room. 

“This is it Jaehyun… tell him whatever you have to okay. Don’t screw up this time.”

“I won’t hyung, I promise.”

“Ten and I are going to give you guys some space. Good luck.”

Johnny left the room and went outside. He saw Taeyong and Ten come in. Taeyong’s eyes were red and tired, but he wasn’t crying anymore. Johnny went and gave Taeyong a nice warm hug. 

“I’m so sorry for what you had to go through today, Tae. Nobody deserves that.”

“Don’t worry about me Johnny. I’ll take care of myself. You and Ten go back. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

“Taeyong, are you sure you don’t want either one of us staying back just to make sure—“

“Guys… it’s Jaehyun. Trust me, it’ll be fine. We’ll talk it out okay, stop worrying about me. Go back to your room, and get some rest. I’ll text you guys how it goes, okay??”

Johnny and Ten both seemed content at that, so they left. 

Just as they left Taeyong and Jaehyun’s room, and heard the door click shut, Johnny pulled Ten into a hug. 

“Ten baby I know you’re going through so much right now... I know how much you love Taeyong and you’re scared that he’ll get back to his old habits babe but please don’t worry so much. Just... trust Taeyong. He’s grown up and become more mature now. Please don’t cry about this because it hurts me seeing you hurt. I love you so much Ten and I promise if anything goes wrong with Taeyong I’ll be the first one to rush to him and get him out but right now… just give him some time, and trust him okay??” Johnny’s voice was gentle and understanding, but pleading at the same time, and Ten found a little part of him melt at every word his taller boyfriend uttered. 

Ten rested his head on Johnny’s chest, because that’s all he could reach. He put his arms around the older’s torso, and lay there. Johnny also rested his arms on Ten’s waist and kissed the top of Ten’s head. It was like an unsaid thing between them. Johnny kissing Ten’s forhead, or the top of Ten’s head was Johnny’s way of saying that even if they weren’t talking, Johnny was still beside him and supporting him. It calmed Ten down a lot, and over the years, Johnny had understood that. Plus, due to their height difference, it was very easy to give Ten forehead kisses, and they both enjoyed it. 

Ten was the first one to get off Johnny’s chest. Looking up at Johnny’s face, Ten gave Johnny a chaste kiss to the lips.

“God, I’m so tired. What I wouldn’t do to be home right now!”

“Babe... let’s go back and we’ll order some thai food and chill okay. It’s been a long and draining day for all of us, and we deserve it. Come on!”

Taking Ten’s hand and intertwining their fingers, Johnny and Ten made their way to their dorm. 

————

Inside the room, Jaehyun was freaking out. He wanted to apologise to Taeyong. He wanted to tell him he was sorry and wrong. Mostly, he wanted to just turn back into time and decide to never say those words. He had prepared a small speech of what he was going to say when he saw Taeyong, but the moment he actually saw him, Jaehyun forgot everything. 

Taeyong looked like a mess. His eyes were red and swollen, his cheeks had dried tears sticking to them, his lips looked bruised due to too much biting, and his hair was flying in all directions as if he’d just beaten a storm. Jaehyun knew that he was the sole reason for Taeyong’s state, and that fact made his heart hurt even more. He couldn’t believe that he had managed to hurt the person he was in love with. 

“Oh my god I’m in love with Taeyong hyung!!!!” This realisation hit Jaehyun at the worst possible time. He was right there, standing in front of Taeyong, wanting to apologise for being a moron and all of a sudden he could think about nothing except what Taeyong’s lips would feel like against his. 

Jaehyun and Taeyong were both standing there, staring at each other. Neither dared to talk. They decided to give each other the space they needed. 

After what felt like an eternity, Taeyong finally spoke. 

“Jaehyun—“

At the mention of his name, Jaehyun yanked himself out of his thoughts. His thoughts about Taeyong, Taeyong’s plump pink lips, his milky white skin, his soft hair… Jaehyun felt suffocated. It was as if Taeyong had captured him with every inch of his existence and was refusing to let go. But as soon as Taeyong spoke up, Jaehyun was brought back to reality. 

“Jaehyun I... I’m sorry. You were right. It was really insensitive and rude of me to bring up my past when you were clearly going through something. I had no intention of hurting you I swear. But even though it was unintentional, I ended up doing just that. I was a bad friend, and I hope you can find it in yourself to forgive me. I’m really sorry Jaehyun.” Taeyong was looking at the ground, sad and guilty. His voice was small, and eventhough he was trying to sound brave, Jaehyun could here the older’s voice cracking. It broke Jaehyun. Being the reason for Taeyong’s sorrow broke him. 

Jaehyun rushed to Taeyong. He grabbed him by his face and lifted it up so that Taeyong was looking at him. He saw the tears roll down Taeyong’s cheeks and Jaehyun swears that at that moment, he heard his heart shatter. 

That was all it took for Jaehyun to break down. He fell on his knees, crying. He could not believe what he had done. He could not believe how much he’d manage to hurt Taeyong. He wanted to be the person Taeyong could confide in, and ended up being the person Taeyong wanted to run away from. 

“Jaehyun I—“

“Hyung please… please don’t talk anymore. Let me talk now, okay?”

Taeyong sat down on the floor, in front of him. He soft ruffled the younger’s hair, and caressed his cheek to let him know that it was okay to go on. 

After a while, when Jaehyun had calmed down a little, he took both of Taeyong’s hands in his own, and started talking. 

“I don’t deserve your apology hyung. I’m a terrible person, a terrible friend, a terrible roommate. I was so caught up with my own problems that I never ever thought that you might have gone through the same thing. Even when you tried to tell me about your own problems I pretended to be the only one who has had a troubled childhood. I’m a pathetic irrational screw up who doesn’t deserve your apology. I know that. But I still hope that you find it somewhere in your heart to forgive me hyung. I know what I did is beyond forgiveness, but you’re one of the closest people I have hyung, and the first person who I ever trusted when I came here.” Jaehyun was sobbing as he said these words. 

“I don’t want to lose you, Taeyong hyung…” Jaehyun’s voice came out as barely a whisper, but Taeyong heard it loud and clear. 

“Jaehyun… can I talk now…”

The younger merely nodded. 

“Jaehyun, I’m not going to lie. Whatever you said, it hurt. It hurt be and it brought back a lot of feelings that I have worked really hard to put behind me. And to have all that thrown right in your face by someone you care about and trust, yeah I was not expecting that. But Jaehyun… I don’t have it in my heart to stay mad at you. Even though you hurt me, you had not fault in this, because you did not know. Yes, I’m a little hurt, and anxious right now, but I forgive you Jaehyun. You’re my friend, and I can’t lose you either. I lost a lot of friends when I was younger, when I came out as gay. I can’t lose another friend over the same childhood incident. 

Jaehyun looked up and went closer to Taeyong. Cradling the older’s face in his hands, Jaehyun spoke…

“You can never lose me hyung. I am not like your douchebag friends from childhood. I’ll be by your side, just like you are on mine. I won’t leave you” Jaehyun’s voice sounded very determined. 

After hearing Jaehyun, Taeyong couldn’t help but have a single tear roll down his cheek. Jaehyun saw it, and softly wiped it away. 

“Don’t cry for me anymore hyung.”

Jaehyun pulled Taeyong close to him and wrapped him around himself. He let Taeyong rest his head on his shoulder. He softly rubbed circles on Taeyong’s lower back to let him know that everything would be okay. Taeyong put his arms around Jaehyun’s shoulders and threaded his fingers through Jaehyun’s hair. Jaehyun smelt of caramel and lemons and Taeyong was sure that he could stay like this forever. 

As for Jaehyun, this was the first time in their friendship, that Jaehyun felt like the more mature one. It had always been the older consoling him, the older telling him that everything will be okay. But that day, as Jaehyun held the smaller boy in his arms, letting him put his head on his shoulder and allowing him to thread his fingers through his locks, Jaehyun realised that he didn’t mind protecting that boy forever. As a matter of fact, he realised that that’s probably what he wanted to do. 

Nobody knows how long they stayed like that. But neither wanted to let go. 

Taeyong, however, was the first to let go. Untangling himself from Jaehyun, he looked at the younger. 

“Yes, Jaehyun, I forgive you.”

And Taeyong swears that the smile Jaehyun gave him after hearing those words could end world hunger, cure cancer and give a blind man his vision back. It was the most beautiful and gorgeous thing Taeyong had ever seen in his life, and he wanted Jaehyun to reserve that smile for him and him only. 

Taeyong took Jaehyun’s hand. They both got off the floor and sat on the older’s bed. They both sat down cross-legged, facing each other. 

“Jaehyun… I’m very sorry for what you went through. And actually being able to talk about it again… that took a lot of courage. I’m so proud of you Jae. And I think that since you’ve taken the courage to actually open up and talk to someone about it, I should do the same. 

“Taeyong hyung if you’re not ready then you really don’t need to you know I’ll—“ Taeyong cut him off. 

“Jaehyun, I trust you. I have not trusted someone this quickly ever since my childhood incident but you Jaehyun… I trust you. I think I’m ready to tell you what happened.”

Jaehyun smiled softly, and put his hand on top of Taeyong’s. He urged him to speak. 

After shifting and fidgeting for a couple of minutes, Taeyong began. 

“I was ten years old when I got the feeling that I might not be straight. I found it weird because whenever I saw my best friend, I had the urge to him hug him an kiss him all over his face. But obviously I didn’t know all this about sexual orientation and shit.... so I was confused. I had always been told by my mom and people around that someday I would fall in love with a girl. But it never happened. did not know what to do. I thought something was wrong with me, and that I would go to hell. Then, I met Ten. He made me realise that there was nothing wrong with me. He told me I was gay... it was nothing different, just that I would fall in love with a man rather than a woman. We became best friends, and each other’s confidante. We started hanging out together a lot.” Taeyong took a long breath. He had been talking for very long, and needed a break. Jaehyun rubbed circles on the back of his hand to let him know that he had his full and undivided attention. After a while, Taeyong began again. 

 

“Slowly... I began reading up about being gay, and discovering myself. After a couple of years, I realised that I was gay. I had never been sexually attracted to any woman before, whereas I’d had atleast 10 make crushes in the last couple of years. I didn’t know anything about coming out, or how I was supposed to tell my parents. My dad was always outside the country on business, since his company was based in Japan, and my mother never really paid attention to me. So I decided to not tell anything to anyone.”

Taeyong took another pause, and then continued. 

“Then one day, Ten came to me, overjoyed. He told me that he’d come out to his mother and father that he was gay, and his parents had accepted him. They had given him a hug and said that they were very proud of him. Ten had cried into my shoulder that day, saying how lucky he was to get such a supportive family, and a best friend like me, who accepted him just the way he was. It was Ten who gave me the strength to go upto my mother and come out as well. But that turned out to be the worst decision of my life...”

Taeyong took a deep breath. Jaehyun could see that he was visibly shaking. He held on to Taeyong’s hand, letting him know that he was with him. Taeyong latched onto Jaehyun’s hand. 

“She... obviously did not accept me. As a matter of fact, she was furious. She said that I was mentally unstable and needed to be admitted to an asylum. She called me a lot of other names. She said that being gay was a disease and I would pay for it. She called me a lot of homophobic slurs, and yeah... all that.”

Taeyong was trying his best to be strong, but his voice was cracking. He did not want to let Jaehyun know that he was weak and struggling. So he put all that away, and went back to the story. 

“After that, my life pretty much became a mess. It got so bad that I actually had to... uh....”

Taeyong was very embarrassed to talk about his past but Jaehyun left no stone unturned to let him know that he was with him. 

“Hyung… I’m so sorry for what you went through… and if you can’t talk anymore then it’s alright, I understand.”

“No Jaehyun. After many years, I’ve had the courage to talk about this again. I’m not going to give up. I’m gonna say it!!”

It took Taeyong another couple of minutes to compose himself before he began. 

“My mom and her words repeatedly made me feel as if I was a loser, a failure, and a good for nothing person. And this got to my head so much that I just decided that I didn’t want to be a part of this world anymore and that why I tried to do the one thing I thought I would be able to do. I tried to do the one thing I thought I was strong enough to do. Cause physical harm to myself. But guess I couldn’t do that well either.” Taeyong smiled sadly. 

Taeyong said no more. Jaehyun understood. But before Jaehyun could say anything else, Taeyong took Jaehyun’s hand, and put it on his chin. 

“Jaehyun, you feel the stitches here??”

“Yeah…”

“Got them when I tried to crash my car.”

Then, he took the younger’s arm and put it on his arms. There were stitches there as well. 

“I made those with a knife, at the age of sixteen.”

And lastly, Taeyong took Jaehyun’s hand once again, and put them on his feet. There were some very white and prominent scars there, and a few blisters too that seemed like they’d been there for years. 

“That’s from when I tried to walk over fire. I figured that the fire would just swallow me and burn me alive but the next thing I knew was that I was on the hospital bed with a crying Ten on one side, and the face of my worried father on the other.”

“Oh my god hyung... you... I....” Jaehyun was shaking. 

“To be honest, I’m glad my father came back in time, because if I’d actually managed to succeed any of those attempts, then I’d never have the life and the friends that I have now, and that thought scares me.”

Taeyong was looking down. Jaehyun softly picked up his head and made him look at him. He quietly caressed the older’s cheek. 

“But what’s important is that you didn’t, and you’re here now. I’m really thankful that your dad came on time hyung.”

“Yeah.... I mean after I tried to kill myself again, Ten got really frustrated and called my dad. He was alwayd abroad on business, but he left everything as soon as he heard about me. He had absolutely no idea that I’d come out and that mom was mistreating me this way. He immediately divorced her, we moved into a new house, and my dad transferred the headquarters of his business from Tokyo to Seoul. He supported me being gay and never once showed any type of discomfort about my sexual orientation. And since he was away for all the times that my mother mistreated me, he felt responsible for my state. He kept blaming himself for what I had to go through and although I kept telling him that I was okay, he didn’t stop. I was in a really bad place at that time, with school, and moving out, and this whole “finally not having to see my mother’s face everyday” shit… so my mind was messed up. I was trying to recover but I was failing and that was maybe a reason that my father couldn’t stop blaming himself. At the end, I decided to go for therapy sessions so that I could show him that I was truly recovering. I spoke to Ten and he and I found a good therapist and for two years, I used to go to him once a week to pour my heart out. Then... I slowly started getting better, became more social, started participating in more events at school, had more friends, etc etc. My father was also happy to see my progress and I was glad to see that I was finally moving on. Then, I got into SNU with Ten and Johnny and Yuta. Here, I met my other friends. And here I am today... so Jaehyun... now you and I both know the stories of our past, and what made us who we are today.” 

Taeyong smiled. Jaehyun could feel that it must’ve been really difficult for him to open up, but he did it anyway. And how Taeyong was smiling, eventhough he had had to relive the worst few years of his live in the last couple of hours??! Jaehyun was spellbound. He didn’t know how Taeyong did it. 

“Hyung… I’m so proud of you. I don’t know how you did it. You’re one of the strongest people I know, and I am glad that you didn’t give up. And thank you for opening upto me and sharing your story with me. I promise to be a better friend for you.”

“Jaehyun smiled and put his arms around Taeyong once again. Then, caressing the top of his head, Jaehyun whispered softly into his ears…

“We’ve both had a very long day hyung. I think we both need some rest. Good night.” Jaehyun smiled at Taeyong as he laid him on his bed, and pulled the blanket to cover him.

“Sleep well, hyung.” Jaehyun smiled at Taeyong. 

“You too, Jaehyun.” Taeyong smiled back and softly ruffled Jaehyun’s hair. 

Taeyong sent a quick text to Ten, that everything was okay and he and Jaehyun had worked it all out, after which Jaehyun switched off the lights in their dorm and they went to sleep. 

And as the two of them went to sleep after one emotional train wreck of a day, they couldn’t help but replay the events of the day in their heads. And as the night went on, they both knew that they’d broken down one more barrier and had become impossibly closer as friends. Neither knew what the future held for them, but what they both knew was that they wanted each other in it…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> soooo i hope you liked it?? let me know in my comments section or you could talk to me on twt or curiouscat!! also... i got smth to tell yall... I AM WORKING ON A YUWIN ONESHOT RN!! like i just started... and I’ve done very little... but its gonna be short... only 3K or smth words so I’ll hopefully be done by next week? Idk!! If yall get time, then I’d really appreciate if yall read it!! Thank you once again, and I love you guys :*


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> God I’m SO late in posting this and my apologies for the same but this chapter’s like REALLY long so I hope it makes up for it!! Hope yall like it, thank you for reading, and leave me a comment or a cc if you wanna :)))

It had been a couple of months since Jaehyun and Taeyong had opened up to each other. Taeyong wouldn’t say it out loud, but he felt that ever since that incident, he and Jaehyun had gotten a lot closer than they initially were. And he meant it not just emotionally, but physically too. Earlier when Jaehyun and Taeyong would meet in their dorms after a long, hard day, they’d just give each other a short hug and a pat on the shoulder but recently, Taeyong had noticed that their hugs had begun to last a little bit longer, their pats turned into soft caresses, and Taeyong was also beginning to see how he and Jaehyun had begun to talk a lot more. Earlier, it was just them talking about their day in general, but now Jaehyun would make an effort to get to know Taeyong more, kind of on a personal level. He’d ask him about his likes and dislikes, want to see photos of his childhood, ask about his school days, and etc etc. Jaehyun still did all the same things for him, get him food, sit with him to eat, and sometimes even walk back together when their class timings coincided or when Jaehyun didn’t feel like attending class and Taeyong was just smart enough to excuse himself on account of “student council work.” The both of them would just walk back together, giggling at the stunt they pulled, and would spend the rest of the day doing dumb shit. 

“So, still in love with Taeyong huh?” Johnny had asked Jaehyun over lunch one day, a question that had made the younger choke on his salad. 

“Uh, what?”

“Are you still in love with Taeyong??”

“Yeah, I mean OF COURSE?? What is there not to love about him?? He has the face, the body, the talent, the perfection, everything!! And everytime he smiles, I feel like I fall for him just a little bit more. Hyung I just want to hold him in my arms forever.” Jaehyun whined, loud enough for Johnny to hear and roll his eyes at, but soft enough for nobody else to have heard them. 

“Then ask him out, you coward. What are you waiting for??”

“I don’t want to be rejected.” Jaehyun had said with a hint of sadness in his voice, which made Johnny feel bad. 

“Come on Jae, he might accept you??”

“Yeah.., key word... MIGHT! What if he doesn’t hyung?? And I really adore what we have between us right now. I don’t want to lose one of the best things that happened to me just because I wanted more than to be able to see his smile everyday and watch him sleep sometimes, hoping he was cudding me.”

“Ew, gross, TMI, shut up now.” Johnny had fake gagged, which had resulted in them both bursting out into laughter. They had dropped the topic then and there, but the thought of Taeyong actually saying yes to Jaehyun, even though it sounded too good to be true, lingered in the former’s mind. 

“Hey Tae... so when are you going to confess to Jaehyun?” Ten had asked Taeyong. 

“I’m not.” Taeyong had said nonchalantly. 

“What??”

“Ten, I’m not going to confess to Jaehyun and put our friendship at risk okay. There is no way in hell he’s going to want to date me.”

“And what makes you say that??”

“Come on Ten... have you seen him?? He’s the literal embodiment of perfection and he has everything... literally EVERYTHING!! Why on earth would he ever be interested in dating a person like me?”

“Taeyong you’re amazing okay. You have everything a guy could wish to have in a boyfriend. The only think you don’t have is an ass, but well... Jaehyun’s gonna have to take that with a bit of salt and pepper.. after all he’s going to get to date THE LEE TAEYONG...”

“Ten if you don’t shut the fuck up this very second...”

Ten didn’t push the topic any further, instead, he just began talking about his dance project with Jeongguk. And Taeyong, although listening to his best friend intently, couldn’t help but imagine what it would be like to actually have Jaehyun as his boyfriend. 

A couple of weeks had passed. Both of them were pining, but neither had the balls to confess. 

“Hey Taeyong hyung... want to watch a movie tonight??” Jaehyun asked him over dinner one day. 

“Yeah sure...” Taeyong had answered with a smile. 

That’s how Taeyong found himself on the couch, blankets all over, 2 jars of ice cream in his hands as Jaehyun mindlessly scrolled through Netflix, trying to pick a good movie. They settled on a cheesey romcom, neither too serious, not too funny, just the right amount of casual and fun. They sprawled themselves all over the couch and concentrated on the screen. 

It was not even halfway across the movie, that Taeyong started yawning. 

“Hey hyung... if you’re tired then we can stop today okay.... let’s just continue this some otjer day” Jaehyun said, voice laced with care and concern. 

“Mhm... no, I think I can do it... just keep playing Jae...” Taeyong said in a sleepy voice. 

Jaehyun softly chucked. He could clearly see how sleepy Taeyong was and both of them knew that it was only a matter of time before Taeyong fell asleep but the older refused to acknowledge it. The younger just smiled, and wordlessly kepy playing the movie, but this time with the volume low. 

About ten minutes later, Jaehyun felt a soft but sudden plop on his shoulder. He turned around to see that Taeyong had fallen asleep on the couch, legs folded, hands on his lap, and his head on the younger’s shoulder. Their faces were inches apart, and now that they were so close, Jaehyun could observe the minute details of Taeyong’s face... the moles beside his eyes, his long eyelashes, his steady breathing. Taeyong was not perfect, but he was such a beautiful blend of imperfections, that Jaehyun couldn’t take his eyes off him. Taeyong was imperfect in the most perfect way possible, and Jaehyun wouldn’t have it any other way. 

Jaehyun slowly got off the couch, but before Taeyong’s head fell, he put his hand in place of his shoulder, and let Taeyong rest his head there. Then he picked up his roommate bridal style, and lay him softly on the bed. Taeyong was absolutely knocked out, but Jaehyun knew that he was light sleeper, so he made an extra effort to make sure that he did everything in the quietest way possible. Laying the older on his bed, Jaehyun wrapped him up with blankets and properly tucked him in. A soft whine left Taeyong’s mouth, signalling that he was comfortable, and Jaehyun heaved a sigh of relief. 

The younger sat on the corner of the bed and watched Taeyong sleep. If was creepy and he knew that, but somehow he couldn’t get his eyes off Taeyong. The older looked so calm and peaceful while he was asleep, and in real life, Jaehyun had seldom seen a calm and peaceful Taeyong, as his academic and co curricular lives hardly gave him any break, or a second to breathe. 

If you’d ask Jaehyun, then he’d say that he could watch his Taeyong hyung sleep forever. But it was getting late, and Jaehyun had 2 submissions and four classes the next day. He wished he could be there with Taeyong and hug him to sleep, while the latter lay his head on the younger’s chest, but obviously they were all just fantasy. The fact that someone as perfect as Lee Taeyong would actually want to date Jung Jaehyun was too much of a fairytale to be true, according to Jaehyun. 

“Taeyong hyung... what are you doing to me..?” Were the last words Jaehyun had whispered to Taeyong, before leaving the older’s bed, and falling asleep. 

The next day was busy for the both of them. Taeyong and Jaehyun had seen each other for only five minutes in the morning before they parted ways. Taeyong told Jaehyun that he wouldn’t be able to make it for lunch with the gang, since he had teachers to meet, to which Jaehyun had replied that he would bring him some lunch back in their dorm so that they could both eat together. Taeyong had agreed with a smile and they had parted ways. 

The morning had gone by pretty quickly, and before they knew it, it was lunch. Kun, Ten and Johnny were all away on work, and Yuta and Sicheng were being disgustingly mushy, which had made Jaehyun insanely uncomfortable, so he had opted to sit away from all of them, in a different table. He was sitting alone, fiddling with his phone when someome came and sat beside him. He looked up to find his younger brother looking at him with his adorable eye smiles and a knowing smirk. 

“What’s up Jeno??” Jaehyun asked nonchalantly. 

“Nothing with me hyung.. you okay??”

“Yeah yeah I’m oka— Yeah I’m fine I’m absolutely fine yeah yeah...” Jaehyun muttered. 

Jeno sat up on his chair and looked directly at Jaehyun. “This is about Taeyong hyung, isn’t it.”

Jaehyun huffed at him in disbelief. He couldn’t believe that he had become so predictable that even his younger brother could see through him. 

Jaehyun’s expression was an answer enough for Jeno. He just smirked and pushed the plate of chips that he was previously eating towards Jaehyun, signalling him to take one. The older took a handful and started munching on them. 

“So when will you confess to Taeyong hyung?” Jeno asked after a couple of minutes. 

“Oh my god why is everyone so obsessed with my and Taeyong hyung’s relationship oh my god?” Jaehyun almost screeched. He was thankful that nobody heard him, because they were sitting in a kind of secluded area. Jeno spoke up again. 

“Come on hyung... you guys are perfect for each other. Just confess already. Taeyong hyung would never say no to you!” Jeno reassured him. 

“Easy for you to say, you’re not the one whose in the danger of getting rejected.” Jaehyun huffed dramatically. 

“Taeyong hyung would never reject you. It would be someone’s biggest mistake to ever say no to you!”

“Thank you for the reassurance, but i’m not going to confess Jeno. Stop trying.”

Jeno pouted at that. Jaehyun just laughed and patted his head out of adoration. 

“Talking about confessions, you are in no place to tell me what to do young man. Have you confessed to your crush yet?? What was his name again?? Jaemin??” Jaehyun smirked. 

At the mention of Jaemin, Jeno’s ears perked up. He looked at Jaehyun and signalled him to talk softly. 

“Shhh hyung he’s right there on that table with the rest of our friends. He’s going to hear you!!” 

Jaehyun thought for a while, and then finally came up with an idea. 

“Hey Jeno, listen...” Jaehyun started, “do you really want me to confess to Taeyong hyung?”

Jeno nodded his head enthusiastically. 

“Okay here’s the deal. I’ll confess to Taeyong hyung if you can confess to Jaemin!” Jaehyun finished, smirk evident in his voice. 

Jaehyun expected Jeno to be a little more surprised and baffled, but instead, the younger just eyed him with an unreadable expression. 

“Is that a deal, hyung??” Jeno asked cautiously. 

Jaehyun was not expecting Jeno to agree, but he thought that Jeno was probably trying to act tough so that he could step off the bet. He knew his brother well enough to be sure that Jeno was too much of a panicked gay to confess to Jaemin. 

“Yes indeed, little brother, it is a deal.”

“Fine then.” Jeno immediately got up and started moving towards Jaemin’s table, where all of the younger’s other friends, including Jaemin were sitting and talking. 

Jaehyun couldn’t believe that his little brother was doing this, but again, a little part of him thought that this was all just an act to get Jaehyun to cancel the bet. 

“He’s surely bluffing!!” Jaehyun had told himself. 

And boy was he wrong....

Jeno reached the table and called out to the pink haired boy, who was intently listening to a story that someone else on the table was saying. 

“Hey Nana..” Jeno called out

“Hey Jeno!!” Jaemin’s face broke out into a million dollar smile on seeing the older boy, and he got up from his chair to go towards Jeno. The latter took this opportunity to pull the pink haired boy towards himself and crash their lips together. 

It took Jaehyun roughly seven seconds to figure out what was going on. Jeno was kissing another boy. He was kissing Jaemin. Na Jaemin. His crush Na Jaemin. Jeno was kissing his crush Na Jaemin. He had finally managed to get Na Jaemin to reciprocate his feelings. A bolt of pride ran through Jaehyun as he saw his brother in front of him, arms around his crush, kissing the living daylights out of him. It was two seconds later that Jaehyun realised what the consequences of Jeno’s actions meant and when he finally did, he was shocked and shaken beyond comprehension. 

Jeno and Jaemin on the other hand had no care as to who were looking at them. Jeno put both his arms around Jaemin’s waist and pulled him impossibly closer while the younger tangled his fingers in Jeno’s hair, crading through the locks carefully as they agressively but delicately made out in the university cafeteria. 

It was only after one of their friends started screaming that Jeno and Jaemin broke apart, lips bruised, cheeks flushed, eyes wide open, but with the two most beautiful smiles on their face. 

“Enough enough enough you two!! I can’t see any more of you guys making out get a fucking room for god sake!” Their shorter friend screamed out, covering his eyes. 

“We do have a room Renjun, but you are there all the time so we don’t really have much of a choice than making out in the cafeteria” Jaemin bit back. 

“Oh my virgin eyes... cannot believe they had to go through that!” Renjun moved his hands above his head dramatically. 

At the shorter’s actions, the pink haired boy rolled his eyes. 

“Virgin my ass! I cannot list the number of times I’ve walked in on you and Yangyang fooling around on our SHARED couch so don’t you even get me started on your virgin fucking eyes Huang Renjun!” Jaemin replied back. 

On hearing this comment, the shorter one looked at Jaemin with an absolutely scandalised expression, betrayal evident on his face. 

“Na Jaemin the fuck did you just say??”

Before anything else could happen, the black haired boy sitting beside Renjun, who Jaehyun guessed was probably his boyfriend Yangyang, calmed him down. A short chaste kiss that the latter placed on the shorter’s cheek confirmed Jaehyun’s suspicion. 

Jeno placed one last kiss on Jaemin’s forehead before he interlocked their hands together and started walking towards Jaehyun. They stopped right in front of Jaehyun, who was still having some difficulty in believing what he just witnessed. 

“Nana, this is my brother Jaehyun hyung. Hyung this is Nana...” Jeno introduced them. 

“Hello Jaemin, nice to finally meet you. Jeno never shuts up about you and your pink hair, and your pretty eyes and your healing smile and how when you laugh its like the stars in the sky are—“ Jeno interrupted them...

“Haha hyung that’s enough please shut up now...” Jeno said, covering his face out of embarrassment. Jaemin’s cheeks were also turning a light shade of red as he smiled at Jaehyun shyly. 

“Jeno has also told me a lot about you hyung. Nice to meet you!” Jaemin put out his hand for a handshake but Jaehyun just pulled the younger into a bone crushing hug instead. After a few moments, he let go. 

“Oh Jeno was right you are so so so cute I’m so happy you guys worked everything out!” Jaehyun said enthusiastically. 

Jaemin and Jeno just interlocked their hands again and looked at each other lovingly. Then, they took Jaehyun to their table to friends to introduce him to them. 

“Hey guys... this is my brother Jaehyun hyung!” Jeno got everyone’s attention on the table as he introduced them. 

“Hyung, these are my friends. That’s Renjun and Yangyang, that’s Chenle, but you of course know him, that’s Jisung, Jeno said pointing to a light brown haired boy sitting beside Chenle, that’s Mark and Donghyuckie, and this is Hendery and Xiaojun!! Jeno introduced everyone on the table and Jaehyun bowed to all of them, even though they were all younger than him.”

Nice to meet all of Jeno’s friends, I really wish I could sit and talk right now, but break’s almost over, and I have a submission next period, so I’m going to leave. Also, Chenle, I’m going to have a long talk with you about what has made you ditch me and Taeyong hyung and sleep somewhere else every night... or should I say WHO...” Jaehyun smirked slightly, looking in Jisung’s direction not too subtly, and Chenle’s shy face was reason enough for him to believe that he’d hit bullseye.”

“Anyways, I’m going to leave now. But Lee Jeno you are going to tell me everything about how you kids worked it out, okay?? Nice to meet all of you, see you guys around!!” These were Jaehyun’s last words before he left. Jeno bid his brother goodbye. 

“See you in the evening, hyung! Bye!”

Jeno and Jaemin waved to Jaehyun as the older said a quick bye to Sicheng and Yuta, and made his way towards the location of his next class. 

The rest of the day also passed by quickly, and Jaehyun made his way to his dormroom, packets of Chinese Takeout in one hand, and a bottle of Cola in another. It was the weekend, which meant that Taeyong MIGHT have less workload than necessary, which meant that they could eat lunch comfortably, and sit and talk for hours. The times spent with Taeyong were Jaehyun’s absolute favourite, and Jaehyun could tell that Taeyong enjoyed them too. They’d just sit and talk about whatever came to mind, and Jaehyun was glad that they weren’t awkward with each other. He enjoyed Taeyong’s friendship and companionship, and this was the main reason he had decided against proposing. He loved his platonic moments shared with Taeyong way too much to screw it up with his feelings. But now his stupid ass had made that bet with Jeno. Jeno that little shit. Jaehyun knew that Jeno was going to force him to ask Taeyong out, but Jaehyun knew that he wasn’t ready to face rejection. As a matter of fact, he would never be ready to face rejection. Thats why he knew that he’d have to come up with a solid excuse to give Jeno. But he’d think about all that later. Right now, he just wanted to have a nice lunch, and a comfortable chitchat with Taeyong. His friend and roommate Taeyong. His friend and roommate Taeyong who would never be more because Jaehyun was a coward. Nice. 

Clearing his head, Jaehyun walked into their dormroom to find Taeyong already present. 

“Ugh thank god you’re here Jaehyun I’m starving!!” Were Taeyong’s first words to him. 

“Hi too you too hyung.” Jaehyun chuckled. 

Taeyong rubbed his neck sheepishly at the younger’s words, but chose not to comment about it. 

“What food did you get Jaehyunie??” 

“Just our regular Chinese food!” Why don’t you get the plates ready while I warm the food Taeyong hyung!”

Soon, Taeyong and Jaehyun were on the dining table, empty Takeout packets flying everywhere, food served on the plate, ready to eat. Taeyong and Jaehyun gave each other one last nod before they dug into their food. 

Taeyong an Jaehyun never had a particular topic to talk about. They’d just talk out of anything, from the most trivial to the most serious issues. 

“So Jaehyun what plans do you have today evening?? We are all hanging out together at Yuta and Sicheng’s so I thought you’d like to come??”

“Hyung I’d love to, but I promised Jeno that I’d spend time with him,,, he and Jaemin worked things out so I really want to listen to the story,,,” Jaehyun chucked. 

“Oh my god FUCKING FINALLY! I was beginning to think that I’d never see them together. Jeno was such an oblivious idiot it was so clear that Jaemin had the hots for him too!! Don’t know why he took so long to ask him out, like Jaemin would even say no to him...” Taeyong said dramatically. 

“Well you never know hyung... maybe he was scared. Scared of losing Jaemin. Scared of fucking up their relationship with his feelings... it’s valid to be honest. Sometimes you just love someone’s company too much to be able to risk it for your feelings. Losing a close one is not worth it hyung.... I’d rather have someone in my life as my friend, than run the risk of not having them in my life at all....” Jaehyun looked at Taeyong dead in the eye as he whispered that last part.

They both stayed quiet for some time, just looking at each other, not uttering a word. Their was clearly some unresolved tension between them but they both chose to not acknowledge it. Then suddenly, Taeyong’s phone rang, and all the awkward tension was broken. They fell back into normal conversation, conveniently ignoring what just happened two minutes back. 

“The boys are saying that they’ll miss you tonight...” Taeyong told the younger. 

“Well hyung tell them to not miss me. We have the next couple of days off from college right?? We can just hang out then!” 

“Yeah guess you’re right... I gotta go I got some work... so see you at night I guess??”

“See you hyung...” Jaehyun smiled widely at Taeyong and Taeyong just wanted to rip his heart out, put it on a silver plate and hand it over to Jaehyun cuz he owned Taeyong already... 

It was late in the evening and Jaehyun was curled up under his bed, reading a book when Jeno came over. Jumping onto the bed with his brother, he forced the older to close the book and cuddle him instead. 

“Hyung I’m cold...” Jeno whined. 

“Its okay you child come here underneath the blaket” were the last words Jaehyun told the younger before pulling him under the blanket and hugging him tightly. 

“So tell me about you and Jaemin, little brother...” Jaehyun smirked and Jeno couldnt help but hide his face in his hands. 

“Hyung there’s nothing to say... Jaemin and I were just talking about random stuff... then somehow we started arguing about something... I’m not sure what it was but I think it was about our favourite pizza toppings.... before we knew it, our small argument had turned into a fight, and our fight, in turn, lead to us passive agressively flirting with each other... at the end I just said screw it to everything and just pulled him and kissed him, and the rest is history. I really wanna ask him on a proper date, and confess to him properly but I don’t really know how to do that... Jeno confessed...”

“Well... out of all the ways I thought you guys might get together... I’d never expected THIS to happen!! But I’m really happy for you guys... you and Jaemin look so cute together and I’m seeing you this happy after so long. God bless you baby...” Jaehyun said, cuddling his younger brother. 

“Thank you hyung... for always having my back.” Jeno hugged him back tighter. 

They stayed like that for sometime before Jeno finally broke the silence. 

“Hyung I know that you were expecting me to forget the REAL reason as to why I came here, but unfortunately for you,,, I haven’t forgotten you know...” 

Jaehyun sighed in defeat. He knew that he would HAVE to have this conversation now. There was no turning back anymore. 

Jeno sat up on the bed, and pulled Jaehyun up too. They sat face to face, before Jeno began talking. 

“Hyung... let’s forget about the bet okay... if you don’t want to confess, I’m not going to force you... this is totally your decision and I’m not going to try to change your views about this... but can we atleast talk about this... please Jaehyun hyung?”

Jaehyun found himself giving into Jeno’s pleading gaze. 

“Okay Jeno... let’s talk..”

“Look hyung I understand every bit of what you’re saying.... till a couple of days back I was RIGHT there with Jaemin, okay?? I mean... he was my BEST friend and I knew that I admired and treasured our platonic relationship too much to even THINK of trying to turn it into a romantic one. I couldn’t lose Jaemin, hyung... even if it meant that I’d have to cover up my feelings forever. I decided to do that, but thankfully faith intervened, and I’m happy now. I’m glad I decided to just go for it, because look where it got me!! Now I’m not saying that Taeyong hyung reciprocates your feelings because there IS a chance that he may not...” Jeno saw his brother’s face falling in disappointment after hearing that one particular part, but he decided to continue quickly.

“But hyung what if he DOES?? Is that not even a LITTLE BIT worth finding out?? And lets say HYPOTHETICALLY, even if he doesnt... it’s TAEYONG HYUNG!! He would NEVER leave you... sure it would become a little awkward between you guys towards the beginning... but if you love Taeyong hyung enough to not want to lose him as a friend... then you’re going to get over it, and get him back as a friend!! Because I know Taeyong hyung and we both know that even if he doesnt feel romantically about you, he adores you as a friend, and he won’t leave you just because you feel differently for him!! There is nothing to lose here hyung!! The only question is that IN CASE Taeyong hyung DOES NOT reciprocate your feelings.... are you man enough to accept rejection, move on, and keep him as your friend?? Are you man enough to accept that someone doesnt like you back?? Do you love Taeyong hyung enough to let him be happy, even though you’re not the reasom for his happiness?? Are you, Jaehyun hyung???”

Jeno finished his speech and heaved a long sigh. Then, grabbing at the bottle of water kept on the bedside table, he took a couple of huge gulps since his throat had become quite dry, courtesy the long ass speech he just gave. 

Jaehyun pulled Jeno closer to him and hugged him tightly. 

“Oh Jeno Jeno Jeno my little baby brother.... I cannot believe how much you’ve grown and how mature you’ve become... you told me so much stuff Jeno WOW... and to be honest... I think you’re right... I love Taeyong hyung and he deserves to know about this... even if it means that my heart gets broken in the process, he needs to know about it. I am going to tell him Jeno... and I promise that I shall tell him soon...”

“Oh thank god you finally decided to do the right thing hyung... I’m so proud of you for taking this decision and TRUST ME... if Taeyong hyung is ANYTHING like people perceive him to be... he would NEVER say no to you...”

“I just hope you’re right Jeno” Jaehyun said nervously. 

The two brothers spent the rest of the evening making small talk and laughing at each other’s stupid jokes. It was nice and comfortable and they were both happy and content. 

Yuta and Sicheng’s dorm, on the other hand, was a mess. Enpty Beer cans were thrown around everywhere and the boys were all sitting in a circle on the ground and chatting and having fun. Sicheng was almost half asleep on Yuta’s shoulder, and Ten and Johnny were making out in the corner, so essentially it was just Taeyong and Yuta. Kun, Mark and Donghyuck were also there, but the older had taken them back early as per Taeyong’s instructions. He did not want them to be drinking, even though Mark was legal. He was like a guardian to them, protecting them and making sure that they didnt do anything wrong. And they loved him for that. 

Taeyong and Yuta were sitting on the ground, talking. 

“So, how are things coming along with Jaehyun, huh?”

“I don’t know Yuta... I mean I still have this raging crush on him... and I’m too pussy to do anything about it... so I’m hoping I’ll just get over it but DAMN Jaehyun is so perfect it’s SO FUCKING HARD to get over him?!!!! Why did god have to put all his attention on him while he crafted him?! And out of all the people in the world, god had to send him to me?? This is so unfair FUCK..” Taeyong was rambling, a habit he often had when he drank any more than one can of beer, and Yuta had to stroke his back to calm him down. 

“Hey Yong, its alright you know... you’re feeling this way about someone after really long, so you’re confused and lost, and it’s okay.. it’s perfectly normal. Don’t worry honey we all got your back!” Yuta said softly. 

“Yuta I just... I just really wanna be with Jaehyun so bad... he’s just... so perfect I can’t stop thinking about him and even when I’m not thinking about him, all I fucking do it think about him!! It’s so frustrating Yuta and the fact that he’s one of my best friends who would probably get so uncomfortable if I ever confessed to him... god I hate this Yuta... so much.” Taeyong whined. 

Yuta sighed. It seemed as if the whole university except the two pining idiots knew that they both had the hots for each other... now only if one of them had enough balls to actually confess... all their friends were getting tired of the pining, and they just wanted this all to be over and everyone to be happy... but it didn’t seem like that was ever going to happen. 

Yuta knew that Taeyong would rather die than ever confess to Jaehyun. And both of them were too dumb to figure out the other’s feelings... Yuta knew it was wrong to intervene, but something had to be done. So, he came up with a plan...

“Hey Yong... let’s play a game, huh?? Why don’t the both of us take a piece of paper each and write about five things we want to do with our partners on an ideal date, huh?? This will get your mind off stuff, and thinking about happy things will put you at ease too... so, what say huh?” Yuta prayed that Taeyong would agree to his plan...

To his good luck, Taeyong did. And soon they were sitting back on the ground, only this time with pen and paper with them...

“So we each get ten minutes, and we’ll list down our absolutely IDEAL date, and five things we ABSOLUTELY want to do with our boyfriends on that date... deal??” 

“Yep!! Starting in 3...2...1... GO!

A little over twelve minutes had passed when both of them were ready with their lists.

“Yuta you go first”, Taeyong nudged.

“Okay” Yuta nodded. 

“My ideal date would be in a park, on the banks of the Han River. Firstly, I want to hold Sicheng’s hand as we sit on a blanket at the park, me eating Japanese food that he prepared, and him, Chinese food prepared by me. Then, I want to sit on a boat with him, and row around a little, till the middle of the river, where we’ll be absolutely alone. I want to have our best kiss ever there, surrounded by just water, and nothing and nobody else, the sun shining on Sicheng’s face and making him prettier than god’s best creation, if him becomimg prettier is even possible. Thirdly, I want to lie my head down on his lap, basking in the son, as he reads out lines from a Japanese poetry book for me, in his absolutely adorable Japanese accent. I want him to read out every line, and then ask me the meaning of it, and for me to tell him. I want him to stroke my hair while I lay there peacefully, his voice the only music to my ears. Fourthly, I want to run around the park with him chasing me, trying to catch me. It’ll be like us becoming kids again, just enjoying each other’s company, becoming younger at heart, and just forgetting all our troubles for a while and focusing on the smaller things. And lastly, I want to ride a bike with Sicheng on the banks of the river, as we watch the sun set together. And the hold hands as we walk back to our dorm, and fall asleep in each other’s arms. That’d be my ideal date, and those are the five things i’d want to do,” Yuta finished, subconsciously threading his fingers through Sicheng’s hair as he supported the boy, who had fallen completely asleep, with his body. 

“Wow you’re like the most romantic person ever.. if you weren’t my best friend, and you were single then I’d have asked you out already...”

“Thats a fucking lie Taeyong, you don’t even heve the balls to ask your actual crush out....”

“ANYWAYS...” Taeyong rolled his eyes

“Okay Tae, your turn now!!” Yuta nearly screamed. 

“Okay so... my ideal date is a day at an amusement park. I want to ride all sorts of silly things, and eat crazy food with my boyfriend. Firsly, I want to go and buy matching headbands with him... secondly, I want to order a really really tall drink and I want there to be two straws and us to drink it together. Thirdly, I want to ride the rollercoaster even though I’m terrified of them, just so that my boyfriend can hold me and be with me. Fourthly, I want to eat carnival food with my boyfriend and maybe feed each other too. And lastly, when the day comes to an end and we stand there to watch fireworks in the sky, I want to put my hands into my boyfriend’s coat pocket so that I can stay warm. And then I want to hold his hand and walk out of there happily, so that I can show the whole world that he’s my boyfriend and nobody else’s....” Taeyong finished his wishlist. 

“Wow Tae.. for someone who doesn’t even have a boyfriend yet.. you are quite the romantic...”

“Fuck you Yuta. Stop making fun of my lovelife bitch!!”

“You mean your non existent lovelife??” These were the last words Yuta was able to utter before a pillow was hurled in his direction. 

“You’re gonna find someone Tae... I promise.”

“But I want Jaehyun, Yutaaaa...” Taeyong whined. 

Yuta sighed. He knew that he had to do something soon...

“Hey Tae... since you’re so tired, just stay back in our dorm today... okay?? Plus you’re like super drunk so if you go back, you might end up saying stuff to Jaehyun that you’ll regret in the morning... so just sleep here!”

“Yeah yeah, can you just—“

“Yeah I’ll Call Jaehyun and let him know that you’re not going back, you just make yourself comfortable okay, I’ll clean up the place in the meantime...”

After Carrying his boyfriend back into their room, Yuta cleared up the mess that all his friends had made. Then, he picked up his phone and dialled Jaehyun’s number. 

“Jaehyun was sitting and reading a book when his phone rang.”

“Hi Yuta Hyung!” Jaehyun greeted over the phone. 

“Hey Jaehyun... listen I just called to tell you that Taeyong is really tired so he won’t be going back to the dorm today, you can go to sleep okay?”

“Okay hyung, thanks for letting me know..”

Before Jaehyun could keep the call, Yuta spoke up again...

“Listen... I’m standing outside your dorm building... could you come out for about five minutes place its a little urgent.” 

A couple of minutes later, Jaehyun and Yuta found themselves standing face to face from another. Yuta took a couple of steps forward till he was very close to Jaehyun. Then, he put his hand on the younger’s shoulder and squeezed it....

“Jaehyun, I know that you and I aren’t as close as you and Johnny, or you and Sicheng, but I truly DO consider you as a close friend of mine, and I want to ask you something as a friend...”

“Hyung I treat you as one of my best friends too. Please, go ahead, ask me whatever you want to...”

“What are your plans with Taeyong, Jaehyun?”

At the mention of Taeyong, the younger’s face grew pale. He didn’t know what to answer, and after just having that conversation with Jeno... he didn’t want to have a similar conversation again...”

“Look Jaehyun, I know you like Taeyong. You are painfully obvious. I’m pretty sure that by now all of SNU knows about it. The point is, Jaehyun, you and Taeyong fit each other like pieces of a puzzle. I have seen the both of you together, and seeing how happy you make each other, I can’t help but feel frustrated to see you guys not together yet. Taeyong’s been through a lot Jaehyun, and so have you. You guys deserve to be happy, and being with each other IS going to make you happy. Ask him out Jaehyun, I’m sure he won’t say no. 

Jaehyun smiled and Yuta. 

“Hyung, you are right. I do like Taeyong hyung, and I do plan on doing something about it soon. He does deserve to be happy and he does deserve to be treated like the most important person in the world. But I’m not sure whether I’ll be able to treat him that way hyung...”

“Jaehyun, you already care about Taeyong so much... and this tag won’t change anything in your relationship. Just that you’ll be able to kiss and cuddle and do all sorts of gross couple stuff and if you ask me, you guys are almost a domestic coupa anyways, so it’s really not going to make much of a difference...” Yuta shrugged. 

“You know what, hyung? You’re RIGHT. I am going to ask Taeyong hyung out, and I will try to make him happy. We both deserve this, and I am going to do this. Thank you so much hyung for this talk. I’m going to ask Taeyong hyung out soon... I just need to come up with a good plan...” 

“Say no more Jaehyun” Yuta exclaimed, pulling out a folded piece of paper from his pocket, handing it over to the younger. 

“Remember when you saved Sicheng from bullies and I told you that I’ll pay you back?? Well here’s your payback! Go get him, Jaehyun!! Good night?” Yuta gave Jaehyun a pat on his back before they parted ways. 

Getting back to his bed, Jaehyun slowly opened the piece of paper Yuta had handed over to him earlier. On top of it read “LEE TAEYONG’S IDEAL DATE” followed by a list of five things which Jaehyun presumed were stuff that Taeyong would love to do on a date... 

“Well.... guess I got no choice but to ask you out now, hyung...” Jaehyun smiled to himself, keeping that piece of paper safely on his bedside drawers. He’d been single for a long time, and now it was time for a change. And coincidentally, change could also be spelled as “LEE TAEYONG...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey so idk if yall know but the last part of it is HEAVILY based off a kdrama.. and the next chapter will also be almost completely taken from there.. if you know what kdrama it is, leave me a comment or a cc, and i’ll get back to you!! if you don’t know the kdrama... then leave me a comment or cc too, and i’ll tell you!! thank you for reading, I appreciate yall <3


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> warning!!! major fluff coming up!!!! BEWARE BEWARE BEWARE!!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all I’m so sorry for updating this late.. I had my lawschool entrance exam and stuff so I was really busy with preparations... AND GUESS WHAT??? I GOT IN!!!!!!! Plus, I was also voting and streaming for 127 at the same time so I had NO time to write!! But I finally got some time and I did this... so I hope yall enjoy this chapter!!!

Monday and Tuesday were holidays for SNU students. So, they had gotten a long weekend, away from University pressure and deadlines, and they were all planning on enjoying it to the fullest. 

Jaehyun, however, had spend his whole Saturday planning the perfect date, following Taeyong’s list upto its last letter. He had spent Sunday preparing his speech for Taeyong, where he would ask him to be his boyfriend. It was cheesey and cringy and exactly Taeyong’s type. Jaehyun wasn’t going to lie, he was excited about this. And the fact that all of his and Taeyong’s friends backing him (yes, Yuta had told them all and they were all on board) up had given him a surge of confidence that this would go well. Jaehyun didn’t want to put his hopes up, but that didn’t stop himself from getting excited everytime the thought of Taeyong saying yes to him popped up in his head...

The plan was set. Jaehyun was going to ask for a group hangout at the amusement park. He would ask Taeyong to call up all their friends but they would all make some excuse for not being able to join them, which would lead to just the two of them going there. And as for the rest of the plan... Jaehyun just hoped that it would go well, after all, the future of his relationship depended on this. 

So, on Sunday evening, Jaehyun found himself asking Taeyong about his plans for the next day. 

“Hey Taeyong hyung, what are you doing tomorrow??”

“Well... I don’t have anything particular in mind... what about you??”

“I was thinking all of us could get together and go somewhere... like an amusement park...” Jaehyun said slowly. 

“That sounds like a great idea Jaehyunnie... let me call everyone up and let them know!!”

“Okay great!!” Jaehyun said, smiling to himself, and satisfied that the first part of his plan had gone well....

Surprisingly for Taeyong (not for Jaehyun though), all their friends made some excuse or the other for not being able to join, from “I was planning on catching up on some sleep bro” or “I have assignments to finish” right upto “Johnny and I plan on doing some sex shit we saw on the internet.” Taeyong was a little surprised that all his friends were busy on the same day, but he didn’t think much about it. His friends were weird, and horny shits....”

“Well Jaehyun, I think it’s going to be only you and me tomorrow... everyone else has something or the other planned already...”

“Oh really??” Jaehyun feigned innocence... “well, I guess tomorrow is just us, hyung??”

“Yeah.... I’m still looking forward to it though..”

“Yeah... me too...”

Both of them went to sleep, excited about how the next day would go....

When Jaehyun woke up the next morning, he was hit with a pang of excitement and anxiety. He was really looking forward to spending the day with Taeyong, and telling him about his feelings at the end of it, but at the same time he couldn’t just disregard the fact that there was a chance of Taeyong not feeling the same way about him. Trying to put everything behind him, he got up, and started preparing for their “date”. It had to be perfect, and he knew it. 

A couple of hours later, he and Taeyong found themselves right in front of the Amusement Park, the younger with two tickets in hand which he had booked online the day before. It was a Monday morning, which meant that there wouldn’t be too much of a crowd. And they were both thankful for it, because it meant that they wouldn’t have to stand in long lines for the rides. 

“Come on hyung.. let’s go!!” Jaehyun held Taeyong’s hand and interlaced their fingers, pulling the older with him. The younger played it cool and tried to push it off as not a big deal, but he was dying inside. And as for Taeyong... well let’s just say that if he had a competition with blood as to what was redder... then he would win... hands down. 

The first thing they spotted on entering the amusement park was their gift shop. They had all sorts of things there, from souvenirs and keychains, right upto plushies and headbands. Jaehyun remembered the first thing that Taeyong had written on his list...

“Taeyong hyung.. want to get matching headbands??”

Taeyong was quite taken aback by this suggestion, because he had never taken Jaehyun to be one of the people who would wear matching headbands with a friend. However, he would never turn down of doing one of the things he’d only dreamed about doing with his boyfriend, with his long time roommate and crush....

“Sure, that sounds great.. what should we go for??”

“We could do angel and the devil.. you could be the angel and I would be the devil!!” He said mischievously. 

“You sure you’re not the angel Jae?? I mean, you’re the one with the beautiful voice, and a price-like face...”

“Hyung... I might look like a Disney Prince, but you are a real life angel. Heaven would never take me if they had an option to take you...” Jaehyun said, mustering up his most confident voice, and stroking Taeyong’s hands gently. Taeyong got shyly and pushed him lightly, smiling in the process. 

Well hyung, since we’ve decided that you’re the angel and I’m the devil, let’s pay for these and start exploring the place, okay??”

“Yeah, sounds great..”

Taeyong wasn’t going to admit it out loud, but something about him and Jaehyun wearing matching headbands made his heart flutter. He’d never thought that they would ever do that, but now that it was hapenning, Taeyong was sure that this was about to be the best day of his life. And he didn’t want the day to end.... 

After paying for the headbands, and putting them on, the two of them intertwined their hands yet again and started moving further into the amusement park....

The next couple of hours were spent in roaming around, getting on various rides (nothing too scary, because Taeyong like the little baby he was was afraid) and checking out the stalls on both sides. Finally, after two long hours, they decided to get something to eat. 

“What do you want to have hyung?? I’ll go order i!!” Jaehyun asked cheerfully. 

“Hmm... I think we should have some fried sausages and caramel popcorn... and of course, something to drink! Like a cool blue or something??” Taeyong suggested. 

“Sounds good hyung, you wait here, and I’ll go get everything!!” Jaehyun said, leaving to get the food, while Taeyong found a table for the two of them. 

A few minutes later, Jaehyun came back, holding a large bucket of popcorn, a number of fried sausages on sticks, and one large glass of some drink, Taeyong wasn’t sure...

“Why did you only buy one drink Jaehyun?”

“Ah, nothing, these drinks are too big, and I’m not very thirsty so I won’t drink much. I’ll only take a couple of sips from you hyung...”

“Before Taeyong could even react to the statement, Jaehyun pushed a handful of sausages towards him. 

“Here hyung... people say that this is supposed to be a delicacy here.. try it!!”

Jaehyun and Taeyong were standing at a table and eating, and chatting. Jaehyun had already put in two straws into the drink, but he was hesitating about how he should take a sip at the same time as Taeyong. They were in a really awkward angle, and trying to drink at the same time as Taeyong would be difficult, to say the least. But Jaehyun wasn’t one to give up. He knew he had to do it, no matter how hard it was. So, pushing all the pessimistic thoughts to the back of his head, he concentrated on the next thing on Taeyong’s list... drinking from the same glass as him. 

Jaehyun was contemplating how to go about it, when an opportunity presented itself. Taeyong picked up his glass to take a sip, and forgetting all the plans that he had been making, Jaehyun bent over the table, towards the other straw, trying to take a sip at the same time. 

Turns out, that even though the move was not well planned, it was very well executed. Jaehyun had managed to do the EXACT thing he wanted to, aka, drink from the same cup, the same time as Taeyong. And as the two of them looked at each other and locked eyes for those brief four seconds before Jaehyun pulled away, they could both swear that they saw something in the other’s eye. Neither of them could point out what it was... maybe it was surprise, or happiness, they didn’t know. But they were sure that it wasn’t something ordinary.... and there was some unspoken chemistry and unresolved tension between them. 

A thick silence enveloped the two of them, as Jaehyun drew back from taking a sip, eyes never leaving Taeyong’s. He could feel an uncomfortable air starting to suffocate him, but adamant on not letting their “date” get spoiled, Jaehyun changed the atmosphere by breaking the silence. 

“Mhmmm... the drink tastes great hyung... don’t you think??”

Although Taeyong was unable to form sentences, he somehow replied to Jaehyun. His mind was short circuiting at a speed faster than that of light, and Taeyong was going through too many emotions altogether to be able to make sense of any one of them. Jaehyun just took a sip from his drink at the same time as him. The same Jaehyun who called him an angel and bought him a headband. The same Jaehyun who’d been holding his hand the entire day, letting go only when needed. The same Jaehyun who was one of his best friends, who he’d been crushing for as long as he remembers. All of this was too surreal for Taeyong to believe. There was so much to say and so much to make sense of, but Taeyong just decided to push all of that to the back of his head for the time being. Right now, he was with Jaehyun. And he wanted to enjoy this with his whole heart, without having to think about ANYTHING else. So he decided to think about all of this once he went back to his dorm that night. He would have enough time then. So, leaving all this thoughts for the night, Taeyong went back to paying attention to whatever he and Jaehyun had previously been talking about....

Jaehyun and Taeyong stood there, eating and talking, cracking jokes, and laughing along, both trying their level best to push their feelings for thr other to the back of their head. They finally finished their food, and wordlessly, Jaehyun interlaced their fingers once again, dragging the older towards the rides. 

“Oh my god hyung look at the rollercoaster!!” Jaehyun exclaimed. “We HAVE to ride it!!” 

“No Jaehyun... please... I’m scared of heights... I can’t do it...”

“Come on hyung, I’ll be with you, and I promise to hold your hand throughout the ride. It’ll be fun, I promise... PLEASEEEE....??”

After a lot of coaxing, which included requesting, begging, and pouting from the end of the younger man, Taeyong finally gave in. After all, Jaehyun’s puppy eyes were really hard to resist. And the only reason Taeyong was even going, was because Jaehyun had requested him.... not like he didn’t want to leave Jaehyun‘s hand or anything...

RIGHT...?????

There wasn’t too big of a line for the rollercoaster, and it took them only about five minutes of waiting until they finally got into their seats. Taeyong was really scared of rides like these, but something about the way Jaehyun held his hand tightly, and rubbed small circles on the back of his hand soothed him. He knew that Jaehyun was with him, and that made him less afraid...

“Don’t worry hyung... I won’t let anything happen to you...” Jaehyun had whispered to him right before the ride started moving, and Taeyong had tried to keep a straight face, and not giggle and blush right there and then. Jaehyun was really testing his limits today... being the one hundred percent not-a-boyfriend boyfriend to Taeyong. And if he continued this for too long, then he might just die....

The ride came to an end, and surprisingly, Taeyong had enjoyed himself. It was one more thinf Taeyong loved about Jaehyun... he made Taeyong see things he’d never noticed before, and make him fall in love with things he never thought he could fall in love with. Taeyong was a perfect fit for Jaehyun, and vice versa. If only those two oblivious idiots would understand that...

They spent the next few hours going on rides, alternating between their choices, so that it would be fair. Finally, at around six in the evening, they were both really tired and hungry. 

“Jae, I’m starving... let’s get something to eat, okay??”

“Yes hyung... whatever you want!!”

“Okay then... lets get some kimbap....!!”

Twenty minutes later, Taeyong and Jaehyun found themselves sitting at a table at one of the stalls a little away from the rides, thus, a little quieter. It was almost empty, and although they weren’t completely alone, it was kind of comforting. They had two plates of kimbap, bibimbap, cheese ramen, and soju in front of them, and although it was way before dinner time, neither of them were complaining. 

They dug into their food, taking breaks to compliment how good the food is, and just talking about their day, and the rides they found best. It was a cool evening, not too chilly though, and the perfect weather for them to be out, and Jaehyun was glad that this was the day he had picked. 

Presently, Jaehyun remembered no. 4 on Taeyong’s list... aka him feeding Taeyong. The timing was perfect, the place was perfect. So, not dwelling too much on this, he just picked up a chopstick full of cheese ramen and held it in front of Taeyong...

“Here hyung, try this... it’s AMAZING!!!”

To say Taeyong was taken aback with Jaehyun’s sudden offering was an understatement. Sure, the both of them often had lunch together, and he and Jaehyun often fed each other casually, but that was because they were friends. The Jaehyun of today had given Taeyong a completely different vibe. Holding his hand throughout the day, and during the rides, feeding him, buying matching headbands together, and WHAT NOT... Jaehyun had been like the perfect not-boyfriend to Taeyong. Now Taeyong may be oblivious but he was NOT stupid. And although he didn’t want to admit it, he was getting a sort of more-than-friends vibe from Jaehyun today, but he didn’t want to jinx it, or say it out loud. 

Presently, Taeyong came back to his senses. He realised that he had zoned out, and that Jaehyun was still staring at him, ramen held out in one hand, and a concerned expression on his face. 

“Hyung are you okay??”

“Yeah... don’t worry about me Jaehyun.. I just.. I just zoned out a little. Bring your hand closer, let me taste that ramen...”

Taeyong and Jaehyun shared a brief moment of eye contact, where the older could literally see Jaehyun smiling the most gorgeous smile, eyes shining with raw emotion. Jaehyun was beautiful in every way possible, and Taeyong just wanted to take a mental picture of that moment so that it could last forever. 

Jaehyun fed Taeyong, and Taeyong gave him a bite of his kimbap in return so that the moment wouldn’t become too awkward. They both knew, and they both knew that the other knew, but the day had been too perfect, and too beautiful, and neither of them wanted to destroy it. Maybe they would talk about this some other day... maybe tomorrow, maybe the day after, or maybe never, but all they knew was that TODAY was not the day...

After a while, they finished all their food and their drinks, and after paying, made their way back towards the rides. The sun had almost completely set, which meant that it was time for the fireworks. Their entire day had been beautiful and now it was slowly coming to an end, and although neither of them were happy about that, they were also bery excited to see the fireworks. 

Jaehyun took Taeyong to a small, elevated part, so that they could see the fireworks more clearly. It was kind of a stony, hilly area a little away from the main attraction of the amusement park, although not entirely outside it. There were little flowers blooming around their legs, and a soft cool breeze blowing right into their face. There were no other people there, just the two of them, which meant that they could have all the privacy they needed, and Jaehyun would finally be able to tell Taeyong what he’d been feeling about the younger for the past so many months. The clock was inching towards 7:00, which meant that the fireworks would start anytime. And Jaehyun was still left to do the last thing on Taeyong’s list... putting the older’s hands inside his pockets. And if the gay gods were on his side, he’d be able to do that successfully too. 

Taeyong, on the other hand, was really enjoying this private time to the fullest. Being a lover of nature, he found all those tiny plants and shrubs around very intriguing, and he was soon sitting on the ground, examining them carefully. Jaehyun saw him and chuckled softly. Taeyong truly was the cutest. 

Presently, a whistling sound was heard, and Taeyong and Jaehyun looked above their heads to see a streak of white light going up in their air before busting into vibrant flames in the air. This was followed by a series of other types of fireworks that were all so different, but complimented each other nonetheless. Taeyong and Jaehyun stared at the sky in awe, both of them too spellbound to even move. The sky looked absolutely gorgeous with so many different colours all scattered together, illuminating the dark night. 

Taeyong was staring at the fireworks with utmost concentration. It was getting a little chilly, and although there were shivers running down Taeyong’s spine now and then, he didn’t want to destroy the moment. The rubbed his palms against each other in an attempt to create friction to keep himself warm. He was enjoying the fireworks when he suddenly felt a pair of hands touching his own. And before he knew it, his hands were in Jaehyun’s pockets, all warm and snuggly, safe and secure. 

A tiny sound of surprise left Taeyong’s mouth, but was thankfully drowned by the noise of the fireworks before it reached Jaehyun. Taeyong looked at the elder to see him engrossed in watching the fireworks, not batting an eye to the other pair of hands that were there in his pocket, almost as if that’s where they belonged. 

Jaehyun turned to his side to find Taeyong staring at him, eyes filled with so many unanswered questions, and so many unsaid thoughts. He smiled his dimpled smile at the older, and the latter couldnt help but break into a smile as well. They stood there looking into each other’s eyes, Taeyong trying to find all the answers that he was looking for, and Jaehyun just wanting a couple of minutes to tell him what he wanted to. 

Slowly, the fireworks died down, and the sounds became softer and softer, indicating that the day was over, and it was time for everybody to leave. 

“Jaehyun it’s late... I think we should leave now... Taeyong said, trying to pull himself away from the younger, but to no avail. The younger had kept the older’s hands firmly in his pocket, and refused to let go. He knew that he had to do what he had planned to do, and nothing could stop him...

“Hyung... I need to tell you something....”

At this point, Taeyong was about ninety percent sure what Jaehyun was about to tell him, but he didn’t want to jinx anything just yet. So he allowed him to speak...

Jaehyun brought Taeyong’s hands from out of his pockets, but didn’t leave them just as yet. He held both his hands, and rubbed soft circles on the back of Taeyong’s palms. Finally, after gathering all his thoughts, he began speaking...

“Hyung... I’ve been wanting to tell you something for a while now, but it was never a good time... I’ve had a really hard time uptil here and not being able to tell you what I feel is killing me... so just please hear me out okay... Don’t think about anything else.. just listen to me. And it’s taken a lot of courage for me to come here and say this so please don’t interrupt me hyung..”

“Okay Jaehyun... go on...” Taeyong urged him. 

Jaehyun opened his mouth to speak, but his words failed him. He tried to remember the speech he had spent his whole Sunday writing, but to no avail. 

“Fuck the speech...” he thought to himself. “I’ll just say whatever comes to me... from the very bottom of my heart...”

Taking a deep breath, Jaehyun started talking...

Taeyong Hyung.... when I came back here from Connecticut, I wasn’t looking to fall for someone. I just wanted to be one of the best students of SNU. But then you walked into my life, and HOLY SHIT, I blew it. The first time I saw you, when I came looking for my new room, I knew that you’d emerge out to be one of the most important people in my life. The first time I ever shared my feelings with you, when I told you about my grandfather, I knew that you and I had something, an undeniable chemistry. When you took me away from my mother and salvaged whatever little mental health I had left.... I knew you were the one for me. The first time I saw you smile, I knew I needed that in my life. From the first time you hugged me and told me you were always here for me, I knew that you were the light that my world was missing. And I know that you might think that whatever I’m saying is hasty, and I havent thought much about my words... but trust me hyung... I’ve never been more sure about anything in my whole life. So, I guess what I’m trying to say is....”

Jaehyun took a deep breath... THIS WAS IT...

“I love you, Taeyong hyung. I’ve been in love with you for quite some time now, and I would have never acted on it, but I don’t know what got into me.... I know that you might not feel the same way and that’s okay, because I’ve prepared myself for this for a very long time. And I’m sorry in advance if what I’m about to do right now makes you uncomfortable...”

Before Taeyong could understand or comprehend what was hapenning, Jaehyun swiftly moved towards the elder, and gave him a soft peck on the lips. It wasn’t even a real kiss, and it lasted for only about two seconds, but for Jaehyun, they were the most beautiful two seconds of his life. 

“I’m sorry for that hyung... I’ve just wanted to kiss you so badly, and I didn’t want to miss the chance. It’s fine if you don’t feel the same way about me that I do about you... I just hope you can see me as as your roommate and one of your best friends.... I’d hate to think that I broke our friendship because I couldn’t keep my feelings in control....” Jaehyun looked down, fiddling with his fingers.

“Jaehyun, I—“

“It’s okay hyung, you don’t need to reply to me right now. Take your time, think about it, and no matter what your answer is, always remember that I will be there for you as one of your best friends, just like you were here for me. I’m going to give you some space, hyung. And even if you say no, I’m always going to be the guy who you can come to, if you need assistance with anything. Yuta hyung is outside, I called him to pick you up. I’ll give you some space for a few days hyung. Take care of yourself. I had a really great time tonight. I’ll see you later...

Jaehyun smiled at the older, as he left his hands, and turned around to walk away. But, as soon as he turned, the older’s voice called him back...

“Jaehyun!!”

“Yes, hyung??” Jaehyun turned back to face him. 

“You drank today... so make sure you’re not driving back...”

“Don’t worry hyung... Johnny hyung is picking me up...”

“Okay then.. I’ll see you later... bye...” Taeyong smiled at Jaehyun, and watched him leave, before he turned and followed him towards the exit. He found Yuta and Sicheng sitting in a cab, waiting for him. He wordlessly got into the cab.

Taeyong had had a hell of a day.... but he wasn’t complaining. Now all he had to do was decide how to tell Jaehyun that there was nothing to think about... and that he reciprocated the younger’s feelings...

It was a good thing to say... so it should be easy to say...

RIGHT???

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos/Comments/CCs are always appreciated!! Thank you for reading!! Also... tell me about yalls favourite tracks from we are superhuman!! mine are highway to heaven and paper plane!


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> yall are about have a LOT of fun uwu

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m early this time hahah but I just wanna let yall know that this fic is coming to an end, maybe one or two more chapters. Thank you everyone for reading and supporting my work, ilysm uwu

As soon as Taeyong got into the car, he was bombarded with questions from Yuta and Sicheng. 

“Oh my god Tae how was it??”

“Did you guys have fun??”

“Did he do something you didn’t expect him to do??”

“”Oh my god tell us everything!!!”

Okay to answer your question... it was great, we had a lot of fun, and yes, he did do something unexpected. He said he was in love with me and gave me a teeny tiny kiss, and then said that he was going to give me some time to think about what I want to reply to him, and that no matter what my answer would be, he’d always be here for me as a friend, but I don’t know why I’m telling you all this, because clearly you guys were in on it!”

Yuta and Sicheng looked at Taeyong apologetically. 

“Sorry Taeyong hyung... we love you, and we didn’t want to go behind your back, but ypu deserve to be happy. We didn’t want to break your trust, but—“

“Hey guys, relax, I’m not mad at you... I’m just a little taken aback with how the day turned out. I’m just a little tired, that’s all. And Jaehyun said so many things... I’m just.. I’m not sure how to react, what to say to him. I mean... we’re roommates, we have classes together, our friend group is the same. I know he said he is going to give me space, but I just don’t see how that’s going to happen. You guys know that I have feelings for Jaehyun, and of course I want to say yes to him, but I just want to be absolutely one hundred percent sure that the both of us are on the same page. I don’t want to say yes to him, and then find out a couple of months into our relationship that what I felt for him was not love, but an infatuation. You get it....??”

“Yes Tae... we get it.” Yuta replied. 

“Hyung, I know that you’re confused, and let me tell you, there is one definite way of figuring out your feelings.” Sicheng quipped up. 

“What is it??” Taeyong asked, voice lined with curiosity. 

“Close your eyes, and picture today... and tell me the first thing that comes to your mind. Don’t think or dwell too much on it... just tell me whatever pops up in your head first.. it can be anything... something you guys ate together, something Jaehyun said to you... anything... and tell us what it is....”

Taeyong closed his eyes, and scrunched his brows, in deep thought. A few seconds later, he opened his eyes again. 

“I can’t...” he replied. 

“What do you mean, you cant, hyung??”

“I mean, I can’t picture anything that happened today, because everytime I close my eyes, all I can think about is running to Jaehyun and finishing that kiss he gave me...” Taeyong replied, talking fast. 

“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out your feelings hyung... I know you want to think about it... but to me it looks like you already have an answer...” Sicheng told Taeyong. 

“Yeah... I guess I do....” Taeyong smiled. 

“I’M IN LOVE WITH HIM TOO....”

The rest of the ride was spent quietly, with Taeyong deep in thought about something (more precisely, someone with big eyes, a dimpled smile, and prince-like visuals), while Yuta and Sicheng did their regular gross couple stuff, pressing close to each other and whispering and smiling at god knows what. 

When Taeyong went back to his room, he found a small, Thai man sitting on his roommate/crush/future boyfriend’s bed, reading a book. 

“Ten??? What are you doing here??”

“Jaehyun said he wanted to give you space, so he asked me to exchange with him for a few days..” he simple replied. 

“Wow.... Jaehyun is taking this space giving thing really seriously...” 

“Tae... what happened today??”

Taeyong sat down and told everything, the same stuff he’d told Yuta sometime back. Ten sat and listened intently. 

“Okay so let me get this straight... or gay... whatever... you KNOW you feel the same way about Jaehyun as he does about you, and the reason you’re not saying anything to him is because when you confess back to him, you want it to be special... different... intimate... right??”

“Exactly.” Taeyong nodded. 

“We’ll that’s easy. You guys are the closest friends. You know everything about him… so just take him out on a date, and incorporate a few of his favourite things into it, and confess to him at the end!”

“Ten... that’s the exact shit he did… I want to be fucking original…”

“Ah, okay....”

The two of them sat there for the next hour, discussing ideas of how Taeyong could confess back. 

“You know what the most beautiful and intimate thing would be?? If you go over there RIGHT NOW, and confess your love to him... just go back to my room, and jump on him, put your arms around his neck, and kiss him senseless. You don’t need a fucking speech Taeyong... it’s the emotions thst matter.”

“Ten, I’m trying to come up with ideas for how to confess Jaehyun, not ideas for you to go back living with Johnny sooner!!”

Ten’s expression was proof enough for the elder that he’d been caught. 

“Okay But Taeyong—“

“Enough with you and your ideas... I’m calling Kun!!”

“Good idea. He’s the sanest one among us all...” Ten reasoned. 

And that’s how Kun, Ten, and Taeyong found themselves sitting on Taeyong’s bed, some snacks in a bowl kept next to them, as Taeyong explained his whole day with Jaehyun for the third time. 

“Okay so basically, you are sure that you love Jaehyun, and you want to make sure your confession is special, intimate, and original, am I right??” 

“YES.” Taeyong and Ten said in unision. 

“Okay, Tae, from what I’m seeing… I think you should wait atleast a couple of days before you say anything to him. If you go confess too soon, he might think that you’ve been pressured by his confession to do it, and that won’t be a healthy start to your relationship. So, even if you’re sure of what you feel, you need to wait for sometime. Don’t base the beginning of your relationship on just going and confessing just because Ten can’t stay a couple of nights without his man candy...” Kun said, matter of factly, causing Taeyong to burst out into laughter, while Ten had a scandalous expression on his face. 

“Fuck both of you… Johnny and I have a healthy and beautiful relationship which is not based on just SEX okay???!!!” He practically screamed. 

“We know baby...” Taeyong cooed. 

“And sex or not, we also know that you hate staying the nights without him...” Kun smirked. 

“That’s it.. I’m leaving you guys.... I need new best friends!!!”

“Fuck off bitch you love us!” Taeyong said in a singsong voice, causing all three of them to burst out into laughter together. 

After a while of jokes and laughter, they came back to the topic in discussion. 

“Okay Kun.. so do you have any plans about how I could confess??”

“Well... I do have something off the top of my head, but I’m not sure its a great idea...”

“Lets hear it!!” Ten said enthusiastically. 

“Okay well... you know how next week is Valentines Day, right??”

“Yeah....??”

“Well, it’s also Jaehyun’s birthday...”

“I know I remember, but I’m not sure whether confessing to him on his birthday would be a great move... I don’t want the day of my confession to be any special occasion... just another normal day...”

“Tae... like I said, it’s not a great idea, but look, you’re going to have to ATLEAST wish Jaehyun on his birthday right?? And you wouldn’t want each other to be awkward.... plus... IT’S FUCKING VALENTINES DAY!!! It’s the day of love confessions!!”

“I know... but I don’t want our first kiss to be on Valentines day!!”

“I thought he already kissed you today!!!”

“THAT WASNT A REAL FUCKING KISS!!!”

Taeyong and Kun argued about the pros and cons about this plan, till finally Ten spoke up. 

“Guys guys guys PLEASE, shhhh!!! Taeyong, I think Kun does have a point. It’s not just Valentine’s day... it’s also Jaehyun’s birthday... and nothing would make him happier than knowing that you feel the same way. Plus, Johnny, Yuta hyung, Sicheng and I WILL be throwing a party that evening… and I don’t want to see any awkward energy there... so you go out there on Valentines day, prepare the best fucking speech of your life, and you sweep Jung Jaehyun off his feet the same way he swept you off!!!!” Ten finished his speech. 

Taeyong thought about it for a while before coming to the conclusion that it was the best they could do. 

“Okay, so let me get this right... the plan is to confess that I like him back on Valentine’s day, right??”

“Yes!!” Kun and Ten said together. 

“Tae, this is your confession, your relationship. Whatever you tell him, is upto you. But if you need any help whatsover, then let us know, okay?? We’re always here for you!” Kun patted Taeyong on the back. 

“I know you guys... and I’m glad....”

The three of them shared a brief group hug, before Kun bid them both goodbye and went back to his room, while Ten and Taeyong switched off tbe lights and fell asleep. 

The next few days went by in a flash. Taeyong and Jaehyun both got buried in work. They hardly saw each other at the university, and even when they had classes together, they would try to have as less eye contact as possible. Sometimes they would bump into each other in the hallway, and would just smile at each other and go their own way. Their friends all knew about what had happened, and they were all very supportive, and didn’t force anything on them. And as for the rest of the people at SNU, they didnt notice. And even if they did, they didn’t pay too much attention to it, or respected their privacy enough to not ask them about it. 

A couple of days before Valentine’s Day, Taeyong sat down to write his confession speech. He had one plan… find Jaehyun alone, go give him a gift, and then confess his love. He wasn’t worried about the first part, because all his friends had agreed to help him get Jaehyun alone… what he was worried about was part two. Taeyong had never been big on relationships. He’d never been the serious dating type… not because he didn’t like it, but simply because he hadn’t found THE ONE. And then Jung Jaehyun had walked into his life, and had made a permanent place in his heart. Jaehyun was different from all the other people in Taeyong’s life. There was something about him that made Taeyong go breathless and weak in his knees... Jaehyun had hypnotised Taeyong with his charms, and now, he was stuck. Stuck in the maze called Jung Jaehyun and there was no way out....

Taeyong smiled, as all his memories with Jaehyun flashed across his mind. He didn’t need a speech to woo Jaehyun. No. According to Jaehyun, the younger was already in love with him. And Taeyong knew that he felt exactly the same way. He just needed a gesture.... something that would tell Jaehyun that he was serious about his feelings. 

“And I know just what to do....” Taeyong thought to himself, as he picked up his phone, and started typing out a text in his groupchat with Ten, Yuta, Johnny, Sicheng and Kun. 

The morning of Valentines Day was nothing too special for Jaehyun. He got woken up by a screeching Johnny, an overexcited Ten, and a Sicheng who looked like he wanted to kill himself, singing him Happy Birthday, all of them in different scales, and unsurprisingly, none of them were in tune. Johnny then proceeded to smear cream all over his face, before giving him a tight hug and wishing him all the happiness. Then, Ten proceeded to tickle the shit out of him calling it “his birthday gift for his favourite little brother”. Lastly, Sicheng gave him a hug, and gave him best wishes. They all knew that in their friends group, the young Chinese male was one of the most sane people. 

Jaehyun checked his phone to see numerous text messages from his friends, classmates, grandparents, uncle, and Jeno. He glanced over all of them, looking for one familiar name, but didn’t find it. Dejectedly, he put his phone away, and began getting ready for the day. 

Now you see, it’s not like Jaehyun was expecting a message from Taeyong. Honestly, he wasnt even sure that the older remembered his birthday. But somewhere deep down inside him, he had a hunch that if his other friends knew about it, then maybe Taeyong would to. But after being greeted by zero messages from him in the morning, Jaehyun came to the conclusion that Taeyong had indeed forgotten, and even if he hadn’t, he was not going to wish him. Jaehyun was almost 100% sure that it was the latter, and the thought hurt him quite a bit, because he had repeatedly mentioned to Taeyong that he didn’t want their friendship to be affected in any ways. And Taeyong not being able to do the bare minimum of wishing him on his birthday made him feel like he had destroyed his friendship for good. 

“Damn it...” Jaehyun thought to himself. This was NOT the start he was hoping to have on his birthday. 

After getting dressed, he made his way outside the room, and towards college. Today was about to be a long long day...

Since it was Valentines Day, all the college couples were mostly together. When Jaehyun entered the gates, he couldn’t help but want to coo and throw up at the same time, at the sight of how disgustingly adorable all the couples were being. This was his first Valentines Day in SNU, and although he was about to experience it for the first time, he’d heard a lot of stories about the same. Valentines Day was the day of confessions, and it was the one day of the year, that students forgot all about their shyness and fear, and went and confessed their love for other people. It was the same every year. Students would confess to the people they had a crush on, and give them a small gift (all put into identical brown paper bags) and a SINGLE red rose. It wasnt a rule, but this is what had been happening for the last many years, and nobody had cared to change it. Almost everyone confessed to someone or the other. Sometimes, they got the answer they wanted, other times they didn’t. But whatever happened, it was all forgotten about the next day, and whatever happened that day was never spoken about. 

Jaehyun was one of the most popular guys in SNU, so, it was no surprise that he was going to receive a lot of confessions and gifts. Some people even hit on committed people sometimes, and Jaehyun was known to be absolutely single. So when a young girl walked shyly towards him, about seventeen seconds after he entered the university, he knew that this was about to be a lengthy day, full of rejecting people. 

By the time Jaehyun went from the gate, to the building (barely 200 metres) he had already received about twenty seven confessions, from guys and girls alike. Jaehyun had accepted all their gifts politely, before thanking them, and letting them down in the softest and kindest way possible. But still, it was hard. So when Jaehyun finally reached his first class, and bumped into Jeno and Jaemin, both his hands were already full of red roses and brown bags. 

“Happy Birthday Hyung!!” Jeno said in his over enthusiastic voice, while tackling his older brother into a hug. Jaemin also hugged him and gave him his best wishes. 

“So, how’s it going hyung... I see you’ve got your hands full, huh...” Jeno teased. 

“Uhm... can’t say I’m disappointed.... but you both don’t look too bad yourselves...“ Jaehyun said, gesturing to all the bags in their hands. 

Jeno just put his arm around Jaemin’s neck and pulled him closer, placing a chaste kiss on his cheek. 

“What can I do hyung... some people think that Jaemin and I are aren’t serious about our relationship, so they’re just taking a chance. It’s not working, though...” he said nonchalantly. 

Normally, Jaehyun would have gagged at this sort of gross couple behaviour, but seeing his baby brother all happy and content in his relationship made Jaehyun’s heart swell. He was so proud of his little Jeno. 

The three of them continued making small talk for sometime before leaving for their respective lectures. 

The whole day was going kind of slowly for Jaehyun. Apart from his friends and classmates occasionally coming and wishing him a happy birthday, nothing had gone his way. And he was getting tired of having to come up with new ways of rejecting confessions. He tried his best to stick with the basics... aka “I really appreciate this, but I’m sorry...” and “Thank you so much, but I cannot reciprocate your feelings...” but after 40+ confessions, even those start feeling overused. 

After what seemed like a decade, it was finally breaktime, and Jaehyun was really looking forward to it. Break time meant that he would be with his friends, and girls and guys would not approach him with their confessions. Also, Jaehyun or the rest did not have any classes that day after break, and he was really looking forward to just going back and spending the rest of his birthday doing nothing. And the third and most important reason (Jaehyun would never admit it out loud) was that he was lowkey hoping to see the face of the boy he’d been dying to see all morning....

As it turns out, lady luck was NOT on Jaehyun’s side. Taeyong had to be in the Dean’s office the entire break, due to some urgent work. Jaehyun was disappointed no doubt, but he tried his best to not let it show... after all... it was his birthday... he was supposed to be happy....

Jaehyun and his group of friends all came out of their classes, hands filled with bags and roses, even though almost all of them were in serious and committed relationships (with each other). They all kept their stuff on one side, as they sat down together and discussed their confession stories. 

“And then she literally jumped on me and said come on oppa... we’d be such a great pair, don’t you think??” Johnny was telling everyone one of his confession stories, while they listened intently, laughing and passing comments here and there. 

It was around 1:30pm when the gang finally decided to depart. All the couples went their own ways. Ten and Yuta reminded everyone to be present at their Valentines Day + Jaehyun’s Birthday combined Party which was to be held that evening. And since it was a Friday, everyone was planning on getting black out drunk, because they would have the next two days to recover from it. 

Although Jaehyun wasn’t very keen on getting drunk, he also knew that Taeyong was going to be at the party. And a part of him couldnt help but almost jump in excitement. It had been a while since he and Taeyong and been in a room together voluntarily for more than a few minutes, and Jaehyun was really looking forward to it. 

Jaehyun took his bags and was about to leave the university premises when a small, soft voice from behind called out to him...

“Jaehyunnie?”

Jaehyun stopped dead in his tracks. He could’ve recognised that voice anywhere, under any circumstances. He was afraid to look back, because he wasnt sure whether the said person had actually called out to him, or he had just imagined the whole thing. So he stood there, motionless, not daring to take a step forward, or turn back. However, a few minutes later, when that same voice called out to him again, he turned back...

Jaehyun’s breath hitched at the view. In front of him was that very guy who could make Jaehyun feel a thousand different emotions all at the same time, the guy who made him want to turn into a soft ball of fluff, but at the same time be a protective boy. The guy who Jaehyun had already given his heart to....

LEE TAEYONG. 

“H-hyung??” Jaehyun squeaked, still unsure of what he was seeing. 

Taeyong smiled softly at him and came closer. In his hand was a box of chocolates. 

“This is for you...” Taeyong said, handing the chocolates over to the younger. 

“Hyung... you remembered my birthday... thank you so much...” Jaehyun said, his smile reaching his eyes because of how truly happy he was to finally see the older. 

“These aren’t for your birthday, Jaehyunnie..” Taeyong said shyly, and it took Jaehyun approximately twelve seconds to figure out what Taeyong meant, but when he did, his face broke out into the biggest, and most beautiful smile ever, because god damn, was this really about to hapen??? 

“Hyung I—“ Taeyong stopped him before he said anything more...

“Jaehyun just... please let me finish okay... I have a lot to say but this won’t take long, I promise...” 

“Okay...” Jaehyun said softly, urging Taeyong to go on...

“Jaehyun, when I first saw you, wearing that blue tee, standing in front of our room door, I knew there was something about you... something special, something different. You were like the light that my life was missing. We’ve not known each other for very long, but you’ve been my best friend and confidante throughout this time. You took your time with me, understood me, empathised with me, and overall, took so much care of me. It didn’t take me too long to figure out my feelings for you, but just like you, our friendship meant too much for me to be able to risk it for my feelings. But after you confessed, I realised that maybe... just maybe, risking our friendship for something more is going to be worth it?? I’ve had feelings for you for really long, and everyday, I just keep liking you a little bit more, no matter what you do. I’ve fallen for you Jaehyun, so bad. And every new day, I keep falling a little bit more than yesterday. So, what I’m trying to say it that, I know that it’s been a long day, and you’ve had to reject a lot of confessions, but I was hoping that you’d make an exception for me and accept mine...” Taeyong finished his speech and brought out a red rose that he had been hiding under his shirt this whole time. He offered it to the younger, and chuckled shyly, biting his lip, almost as if he didn’t know what Jaehyun’s answer was about to be... 

Jaehyun didn’t say anything. He just took Taeyong’s hand that was holding the rose, and yanked the smaller boy towards himself. He put his arms around Taeyong’s slender frame, and held him close. Then, looking into Taeyong’s eyes... Jaehyun whispered the words that he’d been waiting to say...

“Yes, hyung, I’ll make an exception for you. Yu know why?? Because you are you, and you will always be worth it.....” 

Taeyong looked up to the taller man and found him already smiling at him. And as the older looked into his eyes, and smiled back, he found himself falling for Jung Jaehyun all over again...

Jaehyun brought a hand to stroke Taeyong’s cheekbone, while the other still lay on his waist, drawing soft circles.

“Can I kiss you, hyung??” Jaehyun asked in the softest possible way, almost as if Taeyong was a delicate flower, meant to be protected. 

“No...” Taeyong said, causing Jaehyun to yelp back in shock. This was NOT the answer he was expecting....

“Hyung wh—“ Jaehyun was about to ask Taeyong, but the older beat him to it...

“I really want to kiss you too Jaehyun.. it’s just that, I don’t want our anniversary to be on Valentines Day. It’s bad enough that we have to celebrate Valentines Day and your birthday together, but I don’t want to add a third event to this list.” Taeyong said apologetically. 

“I understand, hyung. So why don’t you and I go back to our room, and spend the rest of the day together?? Then in the evening, you and I can go to the party together, and as soon as the clock strikes 12:00, I’m going to kiss you kiss you senseless, because that’s what I’ve always wanted to do, for as long as I can remember...” Jaehyun breathed heavily, whispering all of this to Taeyong. 

The younger’s voice was heavy in his ears, and Taeyong couldn’t help but flush red at his words. They weren’t even dating YET, and Jaehyun already had this power on him...

“Let’s go, hyung...” Jaehyun said, taking the older with him, to THEIR room. 

It had been a tough few months for Jaehyun and Taeyong, filled with crushes, misunderstandings, pining, and confessions. It had been a rough ride, filled with obstacles, but they had finally emerged victorious. But now, it had all ended, leaving them with each other. 

And as they both walked out of the university, and towards their room, hand in hand, they knew that it was probably the best thing to have happened to them. 

LEE TAEYONG WAS THE BEST THING TO EVER HAPPEN TO JUNG JAEHYUN, AND VICE VERSA.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> leave your comments below or in my cc i love reading them, they make my whole day.. thank you uwu

**Author's Note:**

> This is dedicated to Akshita and Khadijah, although they do not know about it’s existence ;) 
> 
> I’m a sleep deprived high on caffeine student so if you notice my typos then please excuse me...
> 
> Also... I’m a student and its my last year of high school so I’m quite busy so I cannot promise about regular updates but I’ll try my best <33
> 
> you can talk to me on [ twitter.](https://twitter.com/myjiaer_)  
> or on [ cc.](https://curiouscat.me/myjiaer_)  
> 


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